Mexico’s Carnage Has No Military Solution
To curb violence and drug trafficking, Mexico needs functioning civilian police forces and court systems, not US military strikes and boots on the ground.
Good luck with that.
Photographer: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP via Getty Images
The recent kidnapping of four and murder of two US citizens in the border city of Matamoros is just one of the latest grisly reminders to Americans of Mexico’s inability to provide basic safety, whether for its beleaguered citizens or visitors from across the border. US legislators like Senator Lindsey Graham have said that it’s time to “get tough” and prepare to send in US troops. Former President Donald Trump has reportedly been asking advisers for “battle plans” along those lines to implement if he is re-elected.
These misguided calls are mirrored on the other side of the border by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s militarization of the fight against Mexico’s cartels. Never mind the absurdity and illegality of the idea of US sending troops across the border. The militaristic turn of policymakers in both governments won’t make either nation more secure. Mexico is not fighting terrorists or insurgents but criminals. It needs functioning civilian police forces and court systems, not missile strikes and boots on the ground.