James Rummel feels we’re Lacking Perspective:
Things are pretty grim. Armed gunmen are getting bolder. Agents of the duly elected government are at risk, with many of them being assassinated in front of their families. Police officers are specifically targeted, often being kidnapped so they can be tortured to death. The message is simple: Join the side of law and order and you will be killed. The favorite method of execution is to behead the victim, a tactic favored by terrorists.Sounds like the most overwrought prose from a journalist describing the situation in Iraq, or maybe the Palestinian Territories. But I’m talking about the drug war being waged in Mexico at this very moment. The Washington Post article behind that last link states that 600 people have died this year.
I doubt very highly that either their figures or analysis of the situation is accurate. I have reason to believe that things are much worse. StrategyPage.com states that over 1,200 people have been killed this year. What is most alarming is that the drug gangs are actively recruiting regular Mexican Army deserters, men that have had training in combat, weapon use, and who are able to plan and carry out complex operations.
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What puzzles me is why this story isn’t front page news. How many Palestinians died in their recent little dust up between Hamas and Fatah? I am having trouble finding an accurate count, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were less than 200. Tragic as that number happens to be, it is dwarfed by the number of lives snuffed out just a few hours drive from our southern border. Yet most of the people I talk to have no idea that anything is amiss in Mexico.
How is this happening? The well-worn routes used to smuggle illegal immigrants also work to smuggle drugs.
Of course, it’s the prohibition of immigration and drugs that puts so much money in criminals’ hands.