Firefights in Mexico

The States Department has issued an advisory warning about the danger of large firefights in Mexico between drug cartels and the Mexican Army. Hmm. That is the Mexican Army now fighting drug cartels.

The scope of the drug insurgency is large and getting larger. The towns of Juarez and Tijuana are in the North of Mexico and those of you living in San Diego and El Paso know they are just across a narrow Rio Grande River.

This must be great ammunition for the "build a big wall and seal the borders" crowd. I have been like most folks, trying to just ignore it. Disturbing facts I knew: the attraction of the drug trade is about opportunity. Positions working in the drug trade don't come with a 401K, but they do provide income with which to buy shelter, food,clothing and most of the folks risking their lives probably weren't getting an M.B.A. or going to med school. Another fact I knew is that the demand for drugs comes from the United States.

40,000 troops have been committed to the fight. 6000 casualties of drug violence last year. In a major city, a cartel has a campaign, "Join Us or Die" and posts death lists with the names of police officers that will be the next victims. Non-state actors; that is, the cartels, engaged in military conflict with a nation-state. Sound familiar?

A drug insurgency on the North American continent?