It was inevitable. As Mexico’s appalling crime edged closer to the U.S. border, it finally struck Americans – three women and six children, including two eight-month-old twins, on their way to a wedding not far from the border. Shot and burned to death in their cars, the victims evoked horror in the U.S. But in Mexico, unfortunately, it was an all-too-familiar event with murders about to set a record this year. Not that Americans would be aware of this since their media is fixated on obscure doings in the northern tip of Syria rather than on the collapsing country to the south. What do you expect of Mexicans? we seem to be told. A colonial attitude persists.
There will be the usual reaction – a number of meaningless arrests and pleas for understanding, education, reform, etc. – “hugs, not bullets” in the words of Mexican President Lopez Oprador. In fact, there is only one solution at this point: the destruction of the drug cartels. This is beyond the capability of Mexican law enforcement which has been taken over by the cartels. So the U.S. must fill in. Troops can be brought home from lost or dubious causes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and who knows how many other places and put on the border to strike at the cartels as strategy dictates. Permission can somehow be obtained from an overwhelmed Mexican government. Interventionism can finally be justified on national security grounds.
There’s no question that this massacre is a clear signal to Americans to stay out of cartel territory. Enter at your peril. It may also be a response to U.S. efforts to block the crossing of drugs and criminals. We don’t know how many traffickers are now embedded in the U.S. who would likely retaliate if their operation is under attack in Mexico. All the talk about terrorists has somehow overlooked the Mexican variety among us. It will not be an easy struggle but for once the purpose is clear: save both the U.S. and Mexico from some of the worst predators that exist today.
See my previous piece (Mexico’s Rulers Show Who’s Boss) on the subject written shortly before the massacre.
Will be tricky but agree that U.S. intervention is required. As the 1994 movie title suggests, this represents a ‘clear and present danger’ to our national security.