PERSPECTIVE ON THE DRUG WAR
20 Reasons to Sit Mexico in a Corner

A good whupping always draws a crowd in Congress, even
if it's not quite to the point.

By SIDNEY WEINTRAUB

I have been following the congressional debate on
overturning President Clinton's decision to certify Mexico as
cooperating with the United States' drug war and have figured
out the 20 main reasons for the decertification sentiment.
* The PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) has been in
power too long.
* So has Bill Clinton.
* The United States has been unable to interdict enough
drug shipments once they enter U. S. territory, therefore the
problem must be in Mexico.
* Many Mexican police and judicial officials have been
murdered by drug dealers.
* U.S. drug corruption is the result of the boldness of
Mexican drug dealers.
* There are no homegrown drug cartel leaders in the
United States, so Mexicans must be controlling the traffic.
* Thousands of trucks and cars cross over into the United
States from Mexico every day and it is impossible to monitor
all of them.
* Hundreds of thousands of Mexican nationals cross the
border each year without documents and some of them
undoubtedly are burros carrying drugs.
* The Mexican Constitution interferes with the extradition
of Mexican nationals.
* Officials of the Drug Enforcement Administration are not
permitted to carry guns when they are in Mexico.
* U.S. airplanes on drug inspection missions cannot overfly
Mexican air space at will.
* President Ernesto Zedillo is an honorable person but
powerless when it comes to drug trafficking.
* Even worse, President Zedillo made errors of judgment in
choosing his key drug fighters, and one big mistake is too
many.
* The international postal service is not reliable;
decertification is the only way to send a message.
* Marijuana is grown in Mexico, and only Mexico has the
industrial capacity to make amphetamines.
* "The drug trade is one business in which abundant supply
creates demand." (Gov. Pete Wilson, March 13, 1997.)
* The law of the land in the United States must be upheld,
and this can best be done by punishing Mexico.
* Mexico is not a democracy.
* Hence, only good can come from destabilizing Mexico.
* Besides, who likes the North American Free Trade
Agreement anyhow?
It goes without saying that none of the foregoing reasons
has anything to do with internal politics in the United States.
The congressional move against certification is for Mexico's
own good. It hurts us to have to do this more than it hurts
them. Someday they will understand.

Sidney Weintraub Holds the William E. Simon Chair in
Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington