The Washington Post
Editorial Page
WASHINGTON — Give Mexican President Felipe Calderon credit for honesty as well as courage. Last week he presided over a three-day public conference to assess the results of nearly four years of war against Mexico’s drug cartels. Most of the facts were grim:
— According to the chief of the national intelligence service, 28,000 people have died violently since Mr. Calder?n deployed the Mexican army against the drug gangs in December 2006. That number represents an increase of 3,000 over the death toll the government reported earlier this summer.
— There have been 963 incidents involving federal forces and the gangs since the offensive began — or just about one per day.
— Mexican authorities have seized more than 84,000 weapons, including thousands of high-powered assault rifles, grenades and other military-caliber equipment. More than 80 percent of the guns whose provenance could be traced came from the United States.
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