DRUG WAR

Battle For A Civil Society On Mexican Border

Recent killings on the U.S.-Mexico border show drug gangs act with
impunity despite Mexican authorities' attempts to enforce law and order.

On Friday, gunmen in Ciudad Juarez killed a police officer and a jail
guard. The killers left signs on the bodies promising to kill at least
one officer every 48 hours until the city's police chief resigns.

Ciudad Juarez is a city of 1.3 million people across the Rio Grande
from El Paso, Texas. The slaying of Cesar Portillo marked the fifth
officer killed in a week. Analysts say the violence signifies drug
gangs' resolve to control the police force of the largest Mexican city
on the border.

The criminals have posted signs throughout the city warning that
officers would be killed if police chief Roberto Orduna does not
resign. But Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz was defiant Friday, saying, "We
will not allow the control of the police force to fall in the hands of
criminal gangs."

Mexico has endured 6,000 drug slayings this year alone, with one-third
of the killings occurring in Ciudad Juarez. Police officers account
for more than 50 of the slain.

This is a dire and dangerous situation occurring just a few miles from
U.S. soil. The Mexican army has been deployed in Mexico's nationwide
struggle with drug criminals. For Mexico to have a future, the forces
of law and order must win this fight.