By Daniel Nardini
As tragic as the death of two Americans and the kidnapping of two others was while they were in Matamorros, Mexico, what should NOT be done is for the U.S. government to conduct military strikes into Mexico. We should have learned from the Afghanistan War that U.S. military strikes deep into Pakistani territory to get the Taliban not only did not work but actually drummed up local support for the very enemy we were fighting. There seems to be too many hot-heads in Washington D.C. who would like to blow the smithereens out of the cartels. That is easier said than done.
First, the cartels are everywhere and nowhere. They can appear out of nowhere and then just as easily disappear. A U.S. military strike may more likely injure or kill innocent people than members of the cartels. Second, we would only be damaging Mexico’s infrastructure. Military operations have a tendency to do that. Are we going to help Mexico rebuild something that we destroyed in the first place? Finally, any U.S. military incursions will most likely only earn the ill will of the people in the Mexican border states. Most people in the Mexican border states are by and large pro-American. This is because Mexicans, like Americans on the other side of the border, travel between the United States and Mexico everyday or frequently enough so Mexicans and Americans have frequent people-to-people contact.
U.S. military strikes could disrupt all of this. Worse, it could destroy plans to build plants and any business infrastructure for future U.S.-Mexico manufacturing. As the United States pulls away from having products made in China, Mexico like Canada would be the ideal place for manufacturing, resource allocation, and agricultural imports-exports having a dramatic impact on America. Using the U.S. military to attack the cartels would disrupt such plans, and create animosity between Mexico and the United States that could last a generation. So what are the answers in dealing with the cartels? I do not have the answers, but a military solution is not the answer. Too much is at stake politically, financially and even in peoples’ lives for such a drastic measure.
No to Military Strikes Within Mexico
By Daniel Nardini
First, the cartels are everywhere and nowhere. They can appear out of nowhere and then just as easily disappear. A U.S. military strike may more likely injure or kill innocent people than members of the cartels. Second, we would only be damaging Mexico’s infrastructure. Military operations have a tendency to do that. Are we going to help Mexico rebuild something that we destroyed in the first place? Finally, any U.S. military incursions will most likely only earn the ill will of the people in the Mexican border states. Most people in the Mexican border states are by and large pro-American. This is because Mexicans, like Americans on the other side of the border, travel between the United States and Mexico everyday or frequently enough so Mexicans and Americans have frequent people-to-people contact.
U.S. military strikes could disrupt all of this. Worse, it could destroy plans to build plants and any business infrastructure for future U.S.-Mexico manufacturing. As the United States pulls away from having products made in China, Mexico like Canada would be the ideal place for manufacturing, resource allocation, and agricultural imports-exports having a dramatic impact on America. Using the U.S. military to attack the cartels would disrupt such plans, and create animosity between Mexico and the United States that could last a generation. So what are the answers in dealing with the cartels? I do not have the answers, but a military solution is not the answer. Too much is at stake politically, financially and even in peoples’ lives for such a drastic measure.