WE NEED TO BACK MEXICAN PRESIDENT IN WAR ON DRUGS

How many times have we heard it in reference to our national interests
for being at war in Iraq: We must battle terrorists there so we don't
have to fight them here, in the streets of the United States?

Along that line, President Bush has just committed a surge of 21,500
troops to stabilize the situation while Iraq's new government gets its
act together.

Whatever happened to America's similar commitment to the war on drugs,
to keep illicit drugs from winding up on our streets and in our
schools and neighborhoods?

Mexico's new president, Felipe Calderon, has good reason to wonder.

Calderon put the drug-trafficking battle at the top of his nation's
agenda when he took office in December. Since then, he has sent
thousands of soldiers to half a dozen of Mexico's states, where they
have pulled up marijuana plants and opium poppies and searched
thousands of vehicles at military roadblocks.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, he also has fast-tracked the
extradition of some of the hemisphere's biggest drug kingpins.

Little wonder Calderon is also signaling he'll be asking for millions
of dollars in U.S. aid to continue his campaign and extend it
nationwide. The U.S. remains one of the premier markets for illicit
drugs.

A cooperative effort that involves millions of dollars in aid for
Mexico to rekindle the war on drugs is important to keep in focus as
we prepare to spend billions more dollars in Iraq.

The situation there has clouded what used to be a major issue in this
country. For the first time in recent memory, the drug war didn't even
warrant a mention in Bush's State of the Union address last month.

That must change. And Calderon is providing the catalyst for a new
commitment.

Texas lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would pay Mexico $850
million in new federal funds over five years for training police and
prosecutors. That's nearly 21/2 times the $69 million a year Mexico
gets now.

"The stars are finally aligned with Calderon, who is willing to work
with the United States, who's extraditing criminals, and who's willing
to send troops into hot spots and take on organized crime," Rep. Henry
Cuellar, D-Texas, told the Times. "U.S. leaders have always said
Mexico needs to do more and now we have a Mexican president doing more."

The war on drugs isn't a matter of waging it in Mexico to keep them
from arriving here. They are already here.

We're encouraged by Calderon's initiatives. This is a war the United
States most definitely wants to help him win, for this nation's
benefit, as well as Mexico's.

We aren't sure about a commitment approaching $1 billion, but Congress
and the Bush administration should act quickly.

Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael
Shepard, Sarah Jenkins and Bill Lee.