Regardless of where one stands on the immigration debate, it shouldn't be hard to find consensus on a US response to the emerging threat of a Mexican narco-state on our southern border:
On the far side of the Rio Grande, a Mexican drug runner raised his AK47 at US lawmen.
The man and five companions were goading the Americans, 100 yards across the border.
"Hey! We're ready to play now," screamed the gunman, who was probably trying to recover the marijuana abandoned on the American side after a chase earlier that day.
[...]
A fire fight across a border, even when provoked by drug runners, would spark an international incident. Yet the bloodshed on Mexico's northern border is now so serious that an international showdown could hardly make matters worse.
The Americans at the sharp end, the lawmen patrolling 2,000 miles of border, are profoundly anxious. With narcotics gangs controlling swathes of northern Mexico and the forces of the state in retreat, they are the next target and some have already been shot.
[...]
Interstate 35, the great highway which runs from Laredo to the Canadian border, is the main artery for South American drugs.
Whoever controls the Mexican side controls the last distribution point before drugs enter the American market.
Across the border lies Nuevo Laredo, described by many as the drug cartels' heart of darkness. The body count this year stands at 88. Officials predict it will hit 300 by the year's end, double last year's figure.
I have to think that Al-Qaeda would be interested in setting up shop in Nuevo Laredo.
28 Apr 2006 @ 8:45am