Phase 2 of the Drug War

The top brass of U.S. and Mexican security personnel met on March 24 in Mexico City to discuss the failed drug war, amid an onslaught of bad news.

http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6718

Phase 2 of the Drug War

Laura Carlsen | April 9, 2010

Americas Program, Center for International Policy (CIP)

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Across the country, citizen groups are calling for an end to military involvement in the fight against drug cartels and an end to the drug war that has brought repression, militarization, violation of human rights by security forces, and a huge increase in bloodshed. A majority of Mexicans believe the drug war is failing, according to recent polls.

U.S. diplomatic reinforcements for the drug war arrived in Calderon's hour of need. The high-level consultation meeting was beefed up to include Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates; Secretary of Homeland Security Janet A. Napolitano; Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair; Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John O. Brennan; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael G. Mullen; Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security John Morton; Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler; Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Director Adam Szubin; Office of National Drug Control Policy Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Supply Reduction Patrick Ward; and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.

The Merida Initiative that provided Mexico with $1.3 billion dollars in aid, much of it military-to-military aid, ended with the 2010 appropriations passed by Congress. Even George W. Bush—one of the most pro-military presidents in U.S. history— designed the initiative as a three-year cycle and not an indefinite intervention.

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But, alas, the opposite happened. Even before the Merida Initiative ended, Sec. of State Clinton was eagerly announcing its indefinite extension, with no exit strategy or—one could plausibly argue in light of the results—any effective strategy at all.

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http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6718