Kushner should have pressed McCaffrey on his statement that "Americans" are disappearing in Mexico. Not one innocent American has been abducted or killed in Mexico as part of this recent spate of violence. In every case the person was somehow related to a criminal activity, had a criminal record on one or both sides of the border, was either a Mexican-American or dual citizen. The drug war is criminal vs. criminal... and visitors or foreign residents have not been affected. The cartels are fighting amongst themselves because the government has killed or arrested their leadership, and continues to do so. The State Department alert on Mexico says that millions of tourists visit Mexico safely every year, and should stay in tourist or business districts. That's just common sense... but the reporting goes unchallenged, would have us believe that tourists are disappearing left and right. It is just not true.
Why Mexico Is Job One
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Once upon a time, Mexico was only an adjunct in the war on drugs, which Gen. Barry McCaffrey fought in his job as Bill Clinton's drug czar. The Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran used to see Latin America through the lens of Colombia, where he persuaded Clinton to initiate an aid program that helped topple the cartels. Now though, Mexico is ground zero—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there in March to pledge American support—and McCaffrey has plenty of advice. He chatted with NEWSWEEK's Adam B. Kushner. Excerpts:
KUSHNER: So how bad is it?
MCCAFFREY: The good news about the administration in Mexico is that they're paying attention.
That's a departure.
Oh, yeah. You have the president personally addressing the issue and dispatching three cabinet officers—State, Homeland Security and attorney general—to engage. It hadn't happened in several years.
What's the bad news?
On both sides of the border, political authorities are tempted to be in denial of the scope of the problem. A senior Mexican official just said the crime rate in Mexico is lower than in New Orleans. That's preposterous! It implies that New Orleans has squads of police being abducted, tortured to death, decapitated. Some American mayors say the crime wave hasn't yet hit U.S. cities, which is errant nonsense. Phoenix has seen more than 300 home invasions. American citizens have disappeared crossing the border. On both sides of the border, you hear, "This is criminal-on-criminal mayhem." Since when is that exculpatory?
Is denial worse in municipalities than in Washington?
The worst denial is in Mexico. We had the mayor of Ciudad Juárez hiding out with his family in El Paso; the police chief resigned, his two predecessors having been murdered; in some of the small towns on the border, the entire police force has quit. The problem is getting worse.
And the solution?
Step one is engagement, and we're there. Step two is resources commensurate with the problem. We just sent 300 officers to the 2,000-mile border, where more than 100,000 cartel members roam. At the same time, we're deploying more than 17,000 military personnel to Afghanistan.
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