Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Mexico falling, and our addictions

The most interesting news story of the day is that the governor of Texas wants to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border. I am not sure where this situation is going, but it is the kind of thing that can come out of left field and upset all our plans for our ...

588178_090226_44902969_33ce6a5068_o_rez2.jpg
588178_090226_44902969_33ce6a5068_o_rez2.jpg

The most interesting news story of the day is that the governor of Texas wants to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border. I am not sure where this situation is going, but it is the kind of thing that can come out of left field and upset all our plans for our ongoing wars elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government also says it is sending troops to the border area, apparently to re-take parts of the city of Juarez, where, according to Reuters, more than 250 people have been killed in drug violence this month. “We aren’t going to give up an inch of the city,” vowed Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont. Kind of reminds me of the recent comments of the Pakistani government about Swat. The difference, of course, is that Swat is near Afghanistan, while Juarez is across the river from the west Texas town of El Paso.

As I’ve mentioned, my son moved out of Mexico earlier this year because of the violence in the capital. It all kind of reminds me of Sam Peckinpah.

There is a weird analogy between Pakistan and Mexico. In both places, American addictions — to oil and to drugs — have helped fund those who are destabilizing those countries. The Pakistan connection is generally less direct — I am thinking of Saudi Arabian funding of extremists. 

BarelyFitz/Flickr

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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