I am worried that the US and Mexico may soon escalate the 'War on Drugs' from a strategy of enforcement by civil authorities, to a shooting war on the border between the nations. Mexico has been using it's military for several years now in it's efforts to battle the Drug Cartels' influence and control over several of their states. The US has supported Mexico's efforts with much money, and advisors under the banner of 'The Merida Initiative', but has refrained from deploying Federal Troops to the Mexican border ( although National Guard Units from the region have been alerted to the possibility of such a deployment ).
Living far north of the border ( in Illinois ) doesn't remove the affects of a conflict on the Rio Grande, as so many folks from south of the border live as neighbors and work beside mid-west citizens. If the US where to use Federal Troops to battle the Drug Cartels in the States, or ( God forbid ) in Mexico, would fear dictate the relationship between this minority and Non-Latinos? Certainly different states and regions of the US would react differently, but would the Federal Government be able to establish a workable general policy for dealing with conflicts inside the US?
One would hope that the Obama Administration is looking for models of past conflicts, and judging them for their successes and failures. The Internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War comes to mind, which brings up the issue of immigrants and Americans of Mexican descent that are ( or will be ) serving in the US military.
I have asked several questions, to which I have no answers. While we all worry about our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, perhaps we should also be concerned about events that are not so far over the horizen..
Thanks to Sgt. Mancini for the photo.
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