Just like the mortgage debacle, if we continue to fall short in addressing the Mexican drug war, it will spin out of control and cost more lives in the U.S. The problem has already spilled over into our states. It can only get worse if we continue to fall short.
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — U.S. efforts to help the Mexican government battle powerful organized crime networks are falling short, and a recent sharp spike in violence south of the border poses a growing threat to U.S. citizens, senators and independent experts told officials from three federal agencies yesterday on Capitol Hill.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard (D), who said his state is the principal American gateway for drugs and human smuggling from Mexico, called the Mexican cartels the principal criminal threat for the 21st century. But he criticized Washington’s response as disjointed and called for more intelligence-sharing and better coordination.
“We are not winning the battle,” Goddard told members of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and drugs.
Lawmakers joined Goddard in calling for a stronger federal response, including heightened efforts to stanch the illicit stream of thousands of American guns and billions of dollars in cash annually flowing southward across the border.
