Casaulties

By Peter Krupa | Published: March 15, 2010

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to tally up the total economic, social, and political cost of the war on drugs. Over half a century, it has killed thousands of people, militarized rural areas, criminalized whole generations of minorities, corrupted police forces, eroded civil rights, cost billions of dollars, and destabilized entire countries.

All of it’s gotten us basically nowhere, but since the goriest chaos has mainly ravaged other countries, suggesting a change of course in the U.S. is still political suicide.

Once the goriest chaos moves north, however, then what? That is, once Americans are directly effected, No Country For Old Men-style, will they become more open to a change of strategy?

These questions come to mind as I read about the three State Department employees killed in Juárez over the weekend, as well as the slaughter going on in Spring-Break-Yay! Acapulco. The former is particularly shocking, as to my knowledge, the drug cartels have tended to steer clear of the gabachos when they shoot things up. Does this mean they’re crossing a line? And what other lines are they ready to cross?

It could be the start of something that finally shocks Americans into changing their (and by proxy, the rest of the world’s) drug policies. On the other hand, if recent history is any guide, it could also shock Americans into clamoring for an all-out ground war. It doesn’t take much.

(Original image from the New York Times article cited above.)

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This entry was posted in Mexico, War on drugs and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

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  1. By Bomb set off outside U.S. consulate | Lat/Am Daily on April 10, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    [...] on U.S. government personnel/installations after three people related to the Juárez consulate were gunned down last month. [...]

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