While the U.S. Presidential candidates are busy courting Hispanics, not commenting on banking failures, and poking each other in the eye, the threat of dangerous and deadly drug cartels overtaking the Mexican government is close at hand.
On Monday (July 14), the
BBC reported that the head of Mexico's intelligence service - Guillermo Valdes - reported "drug cartels are threatening the country's democratic institutions, including [the Mexican] Congress...Gangs have infiltrated police forces, justice departments and government bodies...and drug traffickers [are] trying to take over the power of the state."
So what has been the response from our government to this impending threat to our from our neighbor? Well, President Bush is sending $400 million in aid to Mexico to help the police train and be better equipped to fight the drug cartels. And how much are the 18 Texas counties which border with Mexico getting to help in the fight for our border security? Just
$60 million, which equals about $333,000 per county.
As one
Texas County Commissioner said, “We need to make sure our folks are funded first before we send money to Mexico.”
Mexico has seen a huge increase recently in drug cartel related deaths, with police and other officials frequently the targets of these attacks. The impact has been felt keenly in one
El Paso hospital, where for the third time this year, a Homeland Security Threat Level of red was implemented when doctors treated a Mexican police officer who had been shot by drug cartel members. The reason for the heightened security is to protect hospital staff and patients, who are sometimes on the receiving end of the drug cartels wrath when a hospital treats someone they've unsuccessfully tried to kill.
Further evidence of the impending terroristic type threat to the U.S. - authorities discovered at least
six military-style training camps just across the border in Mexico in March. The camps are "used to
train cartel recruits – ranging from Mexican army deserters to American teenagers – who then carry out killings and other cartel assignments on both sides of the border."
“Traffickers go to great lengths to prepare themselves for battle,” said a senior U.S. anti-narcotics official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Part of that preparation is live firing ranges and combat training courses. … And that’s not something that we have seen before.”
Is our government, Congress and the President alike, asleep at the wheel and counting the days until their cushy summer vacation? While we fight a war against terrorism on the other side of the globe, another war is already in progress and in imminent danger of overflowing our southern borders unless our politicians quit their collective hand wringing and take action!
