While the U.S. Military is expected to play a bigger roll

 

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. June 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM PDT

 

 

 

President Barack Obama according to many observers is apparently attempting to fulfill a campaign pledge to strengthen the U.S. Mexican border. He released his new National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy of 2009. It purports that the U.S. Government including the military will respond to immediate threats associated with the substantial increase in violence in Mexico allegedly resulting from the pressure placed on the Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) by Mexico President Felipe J. Calderón. Since taking office in 2006, Calderon has sent more than 45,000 troops and Federal Police to areas plagued by drug violence.

 

 

Drug trafficking and terror has become a way of life in Mexico. U.S. Mexican border cities from Brownsville Texas to San Diego California continue to be most affected by cartel-related violence; other U.S. cities are also being targeted with drug trafficking violence and related terror including kidnappings of Americans.

 

Mexican drug cartels have infiltrated colleges and high schools all across America.

Research indicates that lucrative university and high school campuses are fertile markets for drug dealers. Mexican drug cartels have known this for years and are believed to have infiltrated many of America’s school campuses through cartel gang members.

 

 

On March 24, 2009 the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice announced the Administration’s comprehensive effort to reduce the illegal flow of drugs, weapons, and cash across our borders.

This strategy for the U.S.-Mexico border which calls for deploying new technology, stepping up intelligence gathering and increasing interdiction of human mules, ships, aircraft and vehicles that are smuggling drugs, guns and cash both in and out of the country.

The 65-page White House Office of National Drug Control Policy document says federal agencies should up-date and modernize airborne sensors and increase surveillance of drug running boats "from the coast to beyond the horizon." It also calls for improving tracking devices that can be hidden in illegal shipments and, when necessary, allowing more banned items to move through smuggling networks to expose the higher ups and lead to the drug cartel leaders where ever they are.

The counternarcotics strategy of 2009 comes as President Obama has pledged to support and increase cooperation with Mexican President Colderon.

 

Mexico President Felipe J. Calderón's crackdown on drug cartels was by expanding the focus of U.S. efforts to contraband flowing in both directions between the two countries. The report emphasizes plugging gaps in U.S. intelligence about what goes undetected in the vast movement of goods between the two sides, and also stepping up investigative resources.

The report points out that drug trafficking across the Southwest border remains an acute biggest threat to our homeland security and one of the top drug control priorities for the United States. Mexican drug trafficking organizations have come to dominate the illegal drug supply chain, taking ownership of drug shipments after they depart South America and overseeing their transportation to market and distribution throughout the United States.

 

The report goes on to say that it is now estimated that 90 percent of the cocaine that is destined for U.S. markets transits the Mexico/Central America corridor. Mexico is the

primary foreign source of marijuana and methamphetamine destined for U.S. markets and is also a source and transit country for heroin. Mexican Drug Cartels dominate the U.S. drug trade from within, overseeing drug distribution in more than 230 U.S. cities. These organizations also control the southbound flow of other forms of drug related contraband, such as bulk currency and illegal weapons.

 

The report says that the U.S. Government is responding to the range of threats along the border with Mexico in several ways. Under the Merida Initiative, $875 million has been appropriated so far to support a partnership with Mexico ($700 million) and the neighboring nations of Central America, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic ($175 million) to enhance regional capabilities and reduce criminal activity over the long term.  The President’s 2010 budget request includes millions of dollars in additional equipment and hundreds of additional Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of the Treasury personnel to improve control of the border.

 

The Department of Homeland Security is also working to better coordinate its intra-agency efforts, and the Administration is monitoring the situation on the Southwest border and prudently planning for potential contingencies. The Department of Defense will provide support to these efforts in authorized areas, subject to the availability of resources, and at the request of appropriate Federal, State, local, or foreign officials with counterdrug responsibilities, if such support does not adversely affect the military preparedness of the United States.