U.S./Mex Drug Cartels Reign; Mexico/U.S Presidents Partner to Fight; Mexican Residents say, "We Need Gringitos Back!"

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon has staked his reputation on a nationwide army-led crackdown against Drug Cartels. More than 3,000 Mexican troops arrived this weekend in Juárez as part of what authorities have described as a frontal assault on crime. The new soldiers, which are in addition to the 2,000 already assigned to Joint Operation Chihuahua, were deployed after a meeting last week among high-level Mexican government officials in Juárez. More troops, including intelligence units, are expected to arrive in the next few days.
President Barack Obama and head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, strongly support President Calderon's War on Drugs. Afterall, the U.S. continues to be the Number 1 user of illegal drugs in the World. Attorney General Eric Holder mounted one of the biggest assaults against powerful drug cartels recently. More than 750 people were arrested across the U.S. with tons of cocaine and marijuana seized and the distribution of drugs disrupted through a series of raids and arrests.
The rising tide of Mexican drug cartel-related violence along American's southern border and beyond is, considered by some, a state of war. The U.S. drug cartels are partnering with Mexican Cartels. The U.S. cartels continue to send 2,000 illegal weapons to the Mexican Cartels a day! Mexico's gun laws are relatively strict. Civilians can't own military-style rifles or high-powered pistols and need an O.K. from the military to buy weapons of any kind. U.S. laws, in contrast, are porous. And with almost 7,000 licensed gun dealers along the border, including many operating from homes, trailers or tiny shops in out-of-the-way towns and remote strip malls, tracking sales of guns destined for Mexican gangs is a needle-in-a-haystack sort of problem.
It is commendable that the government of Mexico and President Calderon have taken up the fight against the cartels with a vigor and courage foreign to his predecessors, who were content to exploit the American appetite for drugs and look the other way at their own military and political corruption. But it is obvious Calderon cannot do it alone. He needs a full court crackdown, with the support of the American Government who will arrest the don't-give-a-damn gun-dealers on the U.S. side of the border who are arming Mexican drug terrorists now threatening U.S. communities.
It is clear we ALL should support both President Calderon and President Obama in their charge to stop the Drug Cartels on both sides of the border.
Mexican Economy: "We Need Gringitos Back"
Meanwhile, the local Mexican residents, innocent in all that has been happening, are feeling the pain of the lost tourist revenue. "We need the gringitos to come back," said Maria Guadalupe Santiago Gutierrez. "The violence is not aimed at them, and if you are not involved in the drug business, nothing will happen to you. Please put that in the paper." Santiago used to sell her handmade arts and crafts at the Juárez mercado. Since the tourist trade faded, she has set up shop on the sidewalk within feet of the Paso del Norte Bridge, closer to where visitors might venture. On a good day, she sells five bracelets and charms at $1 each. "People in El Paso don't understand that if they don't come buy things from us, we don't eat," Santiago said.
References:
Mexico troops move in to retake warring border city
U.S. Moves Against Top Mexican Drug Cartel
Recent editorials from New Jersey newspapers
Mexico's military influx leaves a city on edge