MEXICO'S DRUG VIOLENCE: U.S. IN THE CROSS HAIRS

Americans are under attack not in some foreign province but in their
very homes and neighborhoods. Brutal drug cartel violence that wracks
Mexico is increasingly seeping over the border into U.S.
jurisdictions.

In Phoenix, armed extortionists are kidnapping Americans from their
homes and cars. In Southern California, citizens have been abducted by
armed gangs linked to the Tijuana drug rackets. And in Texas, Gov.
Rick Perry is requesting an additional $135 million for border
security to stem transnational gangs that threaten communities across
the Mexican border.

Authorities say the gangs are ruthless, well-armed and -organized, as
evidenced by the chaos that has gripped Mexico since President Felipe
Calderon sent in troops to confront that country's powerful cocaine
cartels. Mexican soldiers, police, judges, journalists -- the thugs
aren't discriminating as to who ends up in the cross hairs.

Says former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, "Mexico is on the edge of
the abyss." In the meantime Americans are being dragged into it.

If the cartels insist on sending the U.S. a "message," it's high time
the U.S. sends one of its own: by deploying troops to defend Americans
in at-risk communities. What's needed is a force greater than the
Mexican gangsters to send them back to their haciendas -- and not
necessarily intact.

Yes, the U.S. must address its illegal drug market. Meanwhile American
lives are at risk.