We are investing $700 million this year in enhancing Mexican law enforcement and judicial capacity and working closely to coordinate our efforts against the cartels.
· Congress has appropriated (FY08 Supp, FY09 Omnibus) $700 million to support Mexico’s security and institution building efforts under the Merida Initiative. These funds will help to improve law enforcement, crime prevention and strengthen institution building and rule of law. That money will provide
:o Increased capacity for Mexican border security efforts to help stem illegal flows in both directions across the border;o Non-intrusive inspection technology to enhance Mexican interdiction efforts;o Training for rule of law and judicial reform efforts
;o Information technology to enable Mexican prosecutors, law enforcement, and immigration officials to communicate securely
; o 5 helicopters to increase air mobility for the Mexican Army and Air Force, and a surveillance aircraft for the Mexican Navy.
o Support and training for implementation of Mexico’s new legal system and to strengthen observance of human rights by judicial authorities and police; ando Help for Mexican prosecutors’ offices to develop an effective witness and victim protection programs.
Now, to put this into perspective, President Obama sent $900 million in aid to help the Palestinians following their war with Israel. While this will help, it is really nothing more than window dressing.
The only serious response to this war would mean sending somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty thousand national guard troops to back up the border patrol. So far, President Obama is still considering doing this. I hope that this will soon become policy, if he took the war south of our border seriously, that wouldn't just be a consideration but reality.
Putting the national guard to back up the border patrol would cut the smuggling, trafficking, and all other illegalities that go on the border by about 80%. It would also mean that all of his other policies would be that much more effective. With the border patrol cutting all the traffickers and illegals done dramatically, the intelligence can focus on coordinating intelligence on the big fish. Instead, all this does is continue to make the focus on stepping every low level drug shipment, gang banger, and other criminal that constantly flows back and forth between the two countries.
This is the equivalent of a band aid for a heart attack. If President Obama is serious about making sure that the Mexican drug war doesn't spill onto our borders, then the most effective method is about 50 thousand national guard troops. So far, he has asked to do everything but that.
I don't see how anything short of Mexico asking for US troops to come south of the border is going to end that drug war.
ReplyDeleteThe drug war maybe, but the president's first priority is to make sure it doesn't spill into the U.S. Without the national guard, our border is still far too open to stop anyone that wants to cross into the U.S.
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