Look The Other Way, To Our Peril

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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A friend of mine drove through El Paso, Texas not so long ago, and was stunned to learn that the weekend he was there, 28 people were killed - gunned down, actually - in Juarez, Mexico, just across the border.

More stunning was that most of the people took the news calmly - just another incident in a border town where such things now happen with increasing frequency.

With the United States so focused on the economic crisis, it has gone virtually unreported here, but Mexico is dealing with a crisis of its own - a war among drug cartels that has left nearly 7,000 people dead just last year.

The drug business in Mexico has become so big, it is turning a $25 billion annual profit.

The cartels have become so powerful that in some areas, they have all but replaced the Mexican government. Just last week, the State Department warned U.S. citizens to exercise caution when traveling in the border areas, and noted that the cartels sometimes engage each other and government forces in firefights that resemble military combat operations.

As the new administration plans strategies to deal with threats to America's national security, we hear the usual far-away names and places - Iran, North Korea, al Qaeda, the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Well, now add a new worry - the drug cartels in Mexico. They've been getting worse for a while now. We've just been looking the other way.

[ozus]

I have two things to say to you enriquecaliente:

1. Remember the Alamo
2. The US is doing a better job in Texas than Mexico could do.

[enriquecaliente]

To those who say legalize marijuana and we can live happily ever after, they are missing the point.

I could go into the negatives of marijuana (exacerbation of mental problems such as bi-polar syndrome)increase in the risk of potentially fatal lung disease and impairment of judgment and depth perception (I don't want to be on the road with drivers who are high).

"Even more important is that the drug cartels are dealing with much more lethal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and designer drugs. Legalizing marijuana will make no difference to them. They will just push the more dangerous stuff.

Without violating Mexico's sovereignty, we have to make sure the cartels are not allowed to cross the border with their products."

I agree with what is stated here, but as long as alcohol is legal the argument will continue about legalizing drugs. As for Mexico's sovereignty, we could always use Manifest Destiny.

It worked before, when we stole TEXAS from them.

[ausus-2009]

Don't forget the two US border guards who were jailed for shooting at a drug runner.

[platteman]

well duha!! this story has been around for years, just now we are now paying attention to it. Come one CBS and the rest of the MSM. Get it together. Go see Sherrif Joe. He can tell you all about it. Talk to the rancher who held illegials, lost the lawsuit and there must be at least one more you could talk to. Get your head out of you know what.

[ausus-2009]

To those who say legalize marijuana and we can live happily ever after, they are missing the point.

I could go into the negatives of marijuana (exacerbation of mental problems such as bi-polar syndrome)increase in the risk of potentially fatal lung disease and impairment of judgment and depth perception (I don't want to be on the road with drivers who are high).

Even more important is that the drug cartels are dealing with much more lethal drugs such as cocaine, heroin and designer drugs. Legalizing marijuana will make no difference to them. They will just push the more dangerous stuff.

Without violating Mexico's sovereignty, we have to make sure the cartels are not allowed to cross the border with their products.

[babs1964-2009]

SOME WOMAN HAS 8 KIDS AND THE MEDIA HAS A FRENZY.

CIVIL WAR IN MEXICO OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS...YAWN.

WELCOME TO HYPER-HUMAN INTEREST NEWS. FORGET WORLD AFFAIRS.

WOMEN RUNNING THE NEWS ROOMS.

[mav547166]

Until drug cartels start mass killings of US citizens not involved in the use or movment of narcotics I doubt you will see much change in our current policies. The cartels learned from Al Qaeda about attacking the US directly.

[inketolstoy]

lochlan - Amen, my brother.

[drputt45]

The IRS would like to have their cut of the $25B each year. If the cartel is not paying thier taxes, maybe they could apply for a cabinet position.

[lochlan-2009]

"Bob Schieffer Says We've Been Ignoring A Growing Threat Facing Border Towns: Mexican Drug Cartels"

Who's been ignoring this? He must be talking about mainstream media, they ignore all the major news and even make stuff up, slant, or keep numbers vague.

There is a civil war in Mexico, as anyone who checks the news blogs for news knows, and it appears that the drug cartel are winning. For some reason ($$$$$) our media for the sheeple have been ignoring this. Kind of like the 22 states who have passed resolutions on declairing sovereignty. But that's not news, a woman having 8 kids, that's news.