David Olive

Washington
,
Feb 19, 2009
 –
While President Obama is having lunch today with the political leadership of our closest neighbor and ally, Canada, the situation to our south has continued to deteriorate.

Yesterday afternoon, STRATFOR, a strategic analysis group based in San Antonio, released a report entitled “Mexico: The Third War.” It is well worth reading.

Up to this point, the U.S. government has largely turned a blind eye to the gun runners who have been delivering military grade weapons to the Mexican drug cartels. The Obama Administration has an opportunity to make a significant difference – and the just-enacted Stimulus Package provides money to the Justice Department to begin to deal with the issue. With the addition of $40 million for Operation Gunrunner, Congress has said that it is time for action on the U.S. side of the border. We need to quit feeding the monster that is killing Mexican civilians, foreign tourists and military/law enforcement officials.

And DHS Secretary Napolitano should also be focused on dealing with this issue. Given her role as a former U.S. Attorney and Governor of Arizona, this major issue along the Southwestern border should be a top priority. We will see if she includes the topic in her upcoming Congressional testimony and explanation of the FY2010 budget, once it is submitted in the next few weeks.

This piece was originally posted on Security Debrief.