Mexican Implosion - Secure the Border - NOW

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman, Joe Lieberman, will be conducting two hearings to examine the national and homeland security consequences of the escalating violence along the Mexican border.

The first hearing will be held in Washington, D.C., on March 25 and a second hearing will be held in Arizona sometime in April.

According to a news release sent out by his office, Senator Lieberman said: "The southern border has always been on our radar screen as an entry point for narcotics and human smugglers, and other who might threaten our homeland security, but the recent escalation of violence along the southern border demands our immediate attention. To deal with the spillover of violence into U.S. territory, we must assess border security programs and plans in place and we must review the readiness of federal, state, and local law enforcement. Ideally, we can eliminate the threats and provide the Mexican government with the support it needs to win this war against the drug cartels and other dangerous actors who threaten our national security."

The news release from Senator Lieberman also reported that Arizona Senator John McCain said: "With Phoenix ranking second only to Mexico City for the largest number of kidnappings for any city in the world, it is appropriate that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs hold this hearing in Arizona. The violence, crime and drug trafficking in Mexico due to the raging wars among the drug cartels is increasingly coming across the border and threatening the safety of Arizonans and all Americans. I look forward to hosting this hearing in Arizona and working closely with my colleagues, the new administration, and Mexican President Calderon to put an end to the violence caused by the Mexican drug cartels and restoring law and order."

Mexico is in a war with drug cartels and according to Barry McCaffrey, retired U.S. Army general and national drug czar during the Clinton administration, "thousands have been murdered," and "squad size units of Mexican police and soldiers have been abducted, tortured and beheaded." During an interview with NPR news, McCaffrey described the Mexican municipal police as, "quasi criminal organizations." NPR also reported that U.S. Special Forces are training Mexican forces in their war with the drug cartels.

Reuters has reported that Mexico is sending thousands more troops and federal police to it's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. where law and order is on the brink of collapse. This month alone, drug hit men have killed 250 people in Juarez, Reuters reported.

In Arizona, the Mexican government has lodged a protest with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors regarding the treatment of Mexican citizens by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. In a letter sent to the Board of Supervisors by the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, the Mexican government reminds the Board of Supervisors that the U.S. is an active member of the United Nations, which adopted the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Has Mexico ever taken a look at it's own treatment of prisoners ?
Mexico is rapidly drifting toward implosion and the Chairman of the Senate Committee concerned with homeland security decides to hold a hearing on what to do at the end of March and Arizona's own senator, John McCain, will host a hearing in Arizona sometime in April.

What to do.

Sending money and arms to Mexico would be foolish, it is almost sure to land in the wrong hands. Mexico is a true culture of corruption, bribery of police and government officials are a common practice, police chiefs and officials that don't cooperate with the drug cartels are asasinated. What can the United States do to help Mexico and protect America ? Put the U.S. military on the border and really secure our border. Make the smuggling of drugs into the United States close to impossible, this would dry up the supply on the American side and reduce demand which would also reduce drug cartel profits. Allowing local U.S. law enforcement to take illegal aliens into custody would also take a big bit out of drug trafficking.

Illegal drugs smuggled across the Mexican border has been destroying American lives for decades and our border should have been secured decades ago. The government should use the full resources of the United States to protect the American people. There is no longer any excuse not to put the military on the border.