South of the Border, Down Mexico Way

There is a war going on south of the border, and the good guys are losing. Their loss will soon become our loss, because from a national security standpoint, we can’t afford the consequences if the bad guys win. The drug cartels have moved to a new stage in their murderous struggle to control the supply routes vital to their drug trafficking. They are seeking no less than total control of the border cities and villages, and are doing so by employing terrorist tactics to intimidate or drive away honest Mexican citizens from their homes. Just recently, a newly appointed female police chief was gunned down on her way to work. In Ciudad Juarez, more than a dozen teenagers were ruthlessly murdered at a birthday party. Although there still appears to be fratricide between the cartels as they jockey for power, this new stage of violence is more and more directed at the people and Mexican authority and law enforcement. The cartels are employing these tactics to achieve their overall strategy--which in basic terms reduces to: “Who controls the border controls the flow of drugs into the United States.”

We are misreading the threat this poses to our security. Our main concern seems to be that this violence will “spill over” into our country and the cartels will take up fighting in the streets of El Paso. Although a possibility, this would be akin to them shooting themselves in the foot. They are much to savvy to really stir up the sleeping giant to the north.

Another misread is the fact that we have couched the control of our borders in terms of illegal immigration, which in turn leads to highly charged political arguments and posturing. Illegal immigration by those seeking a better life in the United States is a huge problem that needs to be solved in the long run, but there is a more ominous, clear and present danger in the short run that needs to be met, and the sooner the better.

It is safe to assume that those who run the cartels aspire to no moral code whatsoever. Their one god is money, and with it, power. Those who would traffic in misery have no compunction about how they go about their business--for the right price, they will do anything to further their goals. And, they are hugely successful in accomplishing their goals--they manage to smuggle in enough illegal drugs to keep the trade flourishing in the United States, despite our gallant efforts to interdict the flow. They are good at their trade, and if they can smuggle drugs in huge amounts, they can also deal in human traffic--for the right price. Like any thriving business, they will seek other sources of revenue that fit their business model.

 If the cartels can smuggle tons of illegal drugs through our porous southern borders they certainly can smuggle Al Qaeda operatives as well. There is no doubt in my mind that Al Qaeda and their kin are aware of and have exploited this weakness in our security. It is time to change the issue of border security from that of illegal immigration of Mexican workers to that of illegal infiltration of terrorists bent on causing grave damage to our country. We have the power to seal our southern border, we have just not had the will to do so. Perhaps a re-assessment of the real threat facing us would give us the political will. As an added bonus, a sealed border would starve the cartels of their supply lines, and in addition, slow the flow of ordinary illegal immigrants into our country.

JP