Apparently things in Mexico are worse than I (and I suspect, most Americans) think with regards to narco-terrorism and the chaos it breeds right along our border.
Here is a copy (pdf) of Gen Mccafrey’s (Ret) After Action Report that addresses this issue: http://www.mccaffreyassociates.com/pdfs/Mexico_AAR_-_December_2008.pdf
So, vital to national security or not? I agree with the general assessment of the document, that having a condition existing right along our border is a pretty big national security risk.
I suppose the counter argument will be that “if we legalize drugs, all this will go away”, but that isn’t a really realistic approach, is it?
I mean, marijuana MAY be legalized in our lifetime, and I’m pretty OK with that, but isn’t most of this violence and greed driven more by drugs like cocaine, which has a FAR lesser chance of ever being legalized?
What should we do about this problem with our neighbors to the south? Stop being it’s customers?