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From the Dallas Morning News on Thursday, May 15, 2008:
The recent killing of Mexico's acting federal police chief could not have sent a clearer message: This is war. Drug cartels are feeling pinched by President Felipe Calderon's military offensive against their operations, and Edgar Millan Gomez's assassination is an unmistakable warning for the president to back off.
Previous Mexican presidents have heeded such warnings and maintained a respectful distance from the cartels. They learned from their counterparts in Colombia that anyone who seriously disrupts this multibillion-dollar illicit industry risks being squashed.
Calderon must be unrelenting in his campaign to retake border-area states from the cartels. Mexico's future hangs in the balance, and he knows that any sign of wavering tells the cartels that their tactics are working.
The U.S. Congress is sending its own signal by sitting on President Bush's request for $1.4 billion in counter-narcotics aid to Mexico and Central America. If Millan's killing -- along with 200 Mexican police and federal agents -- has failed to rattle Washington out of its lethargy, perhaps history can put some perspective on where this is heading.
When Colombian troops and police began a massive crackdown on major cartels starting in 1989, chaos ensued for the next decade. The powerful Medellin cartel launched a series of car bombs that caused thousands of casualties. Presidential candidates, Supreme Court judges, cabinet ministers and various national police chiefs were assassinated.
Once-insignificant guerrilla groups joined forces with drug traffickers, plunging the country into a state of civil war. The security balance shifted back to the government only after billions of dollars in U.S. aid began arriving in 1999. Are Americans prepared for similar chaos right next door?
These mafiosos will use every intimidation tactic at their disposal to frighten Calderon into submission. Right now, he is fighting this battle with minimal U.S. assistance, even though America's illicit-drug consumption is funding Mexico's cartels. The death and damage on both sides of the border is incalculable.
By approving Bush's request, Congress can send a clear signal that we share Mexico's sense of urgency. By doing nothing, the message to the cartels is unmistakable: Carry on.
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