MEXICO'S DRUG WAR CAN NO LONGER BE IGNORED

When the house next door is on fire, it's hard to ignore. Yet during a
long American presidential campaign, Mexico's besieging drug war and
its links to the United States drew little notice.

This is another war in which Washington has both a sizable stake and a
serious chance of losing. In the past year, some 4,000 in Mexico have
died via bombings, shootings and beheadings. A string of government
officials, some handpicked for the fight, has been arrested for taking
drug-gang payoffs. The violence, once spurred by drug-gang turf
battles, is now aiming at random civilians as a warning to government
leaders to back off.

Quelling this war won't be simple or easy, but it's essential. Mexican
President Felipe Calderon has made ending narco-terrorism a
centerpiece of his tenure. But he isn't winning. Surveys suggest
Mexicans feel less safe than ever, as kidnappings and killings pile
up. His efforts - which call for army troops to step in for corrupt
local police - haven't yet paid off. When the country's interior
minister died in a plane crash this week, the rumors instantly sprang
up that it was the work of drug gangs, proof or not.

The Bush administration, which promised $400 million in helicopters
and surveillance equipment last year, has yet to send the money
because of a foot-dragging fight with Congress. This deadlock is about
to end, and it's none too soon.

The recent months are the worst on record. Last weekend, 10 bodies
were found in Tijuana, one of several border towns where ultraviolent
gangs battle for control. But the pattern stretches nationwide: In
August, 12 decapitated men were found in Yucatan state on the opposite
end of the country. The next month, black-clad men tossed grenades
into a crowd at an Independence Day gathering in the central Mexican
city of Morelia, killing eight and injuring 100.

Consciously or not, the United States is fueling this fight. In this
country, lax gun laws allow gangs to stock up on weaponry that matches
that of the Mexican military. Border-state gun shops are armories for
the gangs, and the sales have drawn protests by Mexican leaders to
authorities in Washington.

Like guns, drugmaking chemicals flow south to aid the trade. More than
anything, America's voracious desire for cocaine, heroin and meth feed
the gangs that devise ever-changing drug routes through Mexico to a
porous 2,000-mile border.

Mexican leader Calderon has sought to make the drug war a crusade.
Along with deploying the army, he's pushed to rebuild the courts and
law enforcement. He also favors wider drug treatment and easing
penalties for small amounts of drugs. This lenience is a reflection of
another drug-war reality: Addiction and drug abuse in Mexico has soared.

A string of White House figures - most recently Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice - has met with Mexican counterparts to share
strategy. But these sessions aren't paying off. Drug gangs, ever more
violent as longtime leaders are arrested and successors battle for
control, are fighting back. Cross-border cooperation among law
enforcement agencies to halt trafficking, gun sales and cash shipments
is beginning to pay off, but the pace is still slow.

The easy answer is to paint Mexico as lawless and bought-off, a
hopeless case when it comes to narco-terrorist crackdown. But the
United States' problems with drug abuse, gang crime and even illegal
immigration can't be solved without effective cooperation. The fire
next door is too big to ignore.

This article appeared on page G - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle