HILLARY CLINTON AND THE MEXICO MESSAGE

The Secretary of State Said What Mexicans Wanted to Hear: The U.S.
Shares Responsibility for Its Neighbor's Drug Violence. Now We Must
Be Just As Smart About Our 'Help.'

To many of us, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was simply
stating the obvious when she acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. demand
for illegal drugs has fortified Mexican narco-mafias and fueled that
country's drug violence. But Mexico had not heard such a high-level
U.S. official accept shared responsibility for generating and solving
the drug wars, and the positive reviews Clinton has been getting
remind us that a little mea culpamea culpa goes a long way.

The day before she arrived in Mexico City, on her first visit as
secretary of State, the Obama administration promised to address the
problem of southbound weapons trafficking and money laundering.
Clinton also sought to quell fury over recent U.S. intelligence
assessments that Mexico risks becoming a "failed state" along with
other countries riven by violence, such as Pakistan. President Felipe
Calderon had grown accustomed to unqualified praise from the Bush
administration, which sought to bolster the remaining right-of-center
governments in Latin America, and was blindsided by the sudden talk of
no-go areasin Mexico coming from U.S. military and law enforcement
quarters. In a joint meeting with Clinton, Mexican Foreign Secretary
Patricia Espinosa pointedly noted that there are many places in both
countries where the two women wouldn't venture.

In her role as diplomat in chief, Clinton clarified that the Obama
administration does not hold the position that our next-door neighbor
is about to collapse into chaos. Clinton is right that the Mexican
state and civil society remain strong, and certainly Mexico is able to
send the army into any municipality to calm the drug violence, as it
has done recently in Ciudad Juarez. But in scores of towns, the civil
government and local police are not able to confront the traffickers
without the help of the army. The drug cartels have killed thousands
and control many more through threats, bribes and taxes. No matter
what you call it, that's a problem that both countries must resolve
together, as the violence is seeping across the border.

Some Mexicans bristle at taking Black Hawk helicopters and other
military aid from the behemoth to the north. Critics say "help" and
"cooperation" usually come with strings that suggest U.S. meddling.
The United States must remain cognizant of those sensitivities, while
staying engaged and supplying aid. Because left unchecked, the drug
traffickers will pose a threat to Mexico's stability and, therefore,
to our own.