U.S. must deal with drug problem now

By John C. Bersia

When the intense violence of illegal drug-trafficking was causing a commotion several hours away by air in places like Colombia, Americans were not terribly concerned. But now that it is killing about 100 people a week in Mexico, spilling over the U.S. border with that country, being branded a top national-security threat and disrupting vacation plans, they are paying closer attention. Indeed, they are scared.

They should be, because now the beast lurks right next door. At any moment — particularly in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas — Americans could come face to face with narco-trafficking’s wanton ugliness, including savage gunfights by drug gangs battling for control. As they look to the Obama administration for protection and hope, Americans must prepare themselves for a moment of truth: It is not enough simply to combat illegal drugs in the production and smuggling dimensions of the issue. It is also necessary to combat them on the demand side, that is, right here in the United States.

After receiving a briefing on the subject by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen recently, President Obama reportedly asked how the United States could do more to help. The best approach — according to former U.S. Ambassador Myles Frechette, who has served in Colombia and other Latin American countries — is for Obama to take a deep breath, look at the facts, ignore shrill voices warning that the sky is falling and embrace constructive possibilities.

Frechette acknowledges that Mexico has had to use troops — in Juarez, for example — because of corruption, intimidation and the fact that the police are outgunned. Those developments have tempted some observers to dig up former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger’s scenario in “The Next War,” which had Mexico tumbling into lawlessness and chaos because of the influence of narco-traffickers. In fact, the “failed-state” label has begun circulating in some quarters. But Mexico is hardly that, Frechette argues, adding that such epithets are “needlessly insulting and undercut opportunities for cooperation.” Actually, Mexico has a large, strong central government, and it is “here to stay, not teetering at the brink,” he contends.

Just as important, Washington should take advantage of an unusual moment in U.S.-Mexican relations, realizing that the best time to work with Mexico City to combat narco-trafficking is now, Frechette advises. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has signaled that his country is absolutely committed to confronting this scourge. “He has asked for more U.S. help. We should take the opening and run with it. Calderon is our best chance,” Frechette insists.

Joint efforts

It is also vitally important to accelerate joint efforts, from information-sharing and training to reducing the flow of assault rifles and other weapons from the United States into Mexico. The latter problem causes the level of violence to escalate and eventually could come back to harm us, Frechette says.

Finally, as part of a long-term solution to the threat, he recommends that we put an end to complacency, as well as to the tired approaches that we have used with limited success for decades. Rather, Frechette offers, the Obama administration should develop and adopt a serious demand-reduction policy, treat drug addiction as a sickness and greatly expand anti-drug education.

Well, it is unfortunate that Americans had to wait for the beast to lurk right next door to come to their senses. Now that it has arrived, though, we should take every reasonable, proactive step to avoid its menacing bite.

X John C. Bersia, who won a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for the Orlando Sentinel in 2000, is the special assistant to the president for global perspectives at the University of Central Florida. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.