DRUG WAR SPREADS: U.S. CITIES FEEL EFFECTS

Perhaps non-border Americans will now realize that more effort must be
put into securing our country from drug-violence spillover.

Because, now it's spilling into their cities all across the country.
U.S. authorities, according to the Associated Press, are reporting a
spike in murders, kidnappings and other crimes that are linked to drug
cartels.

Any specific cities?

Apparently, there's a whole lot of them -- different-size cities,
different locations. The AP named places as geographically disparate
as Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; and Sioux Falls, S.D. in its array.

David Cuthbertson, agent in charge of the El Paso FBI office, put it
succinctly: "The violence follows the drugs."

Perhaps "out of sight, out of mind" has been a detriment in convincing
lawmakers from non-border states to act more thoroughly on securing
our borders.

In El Paso, we are well aware of the violent drug war ongoing next
door in Juarez. We see some signs of spillover here. Taxpayers pick up
tabs when wounded victims are transported to our county hospital.

Some here contend that, yes, some Americans have been victims of
kidnappings.

In fact, U.S. Congressman Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, felt the pain of
that when his niece, who lives in Juarez, was kidnapped a few months
ago. She was eventually released unharmed, but few details were made
public.

According to the AP, agents say such brutality in U.S. cities hasn't
been seen since the Colombian cartels ran rampant in Florida during
the 1980s.

Examples: In August, the bodies of five men were found with their throats
slit in Birmingham, Ala.

In Phoenix, police report a big increase in kidnappings and home
invasions. The AP story said, "And (agents) say the majority were
committed at the behest of the Mexican drug gangs."

Atlanta is being called "the new Southwest border."

There wasn't much reaction across the states when some 1,700 persons
were murdered in Juarez last year. Now that the violence is spreading
to where the drugs spread ...

Maybe now it's time, make that high time, the U.S. government did more
to make our cities safe from murderous drug lords.