OFFICIALS: DRUG-WAR SPILLOVER EXAGGERATED

EL PASO -- Sen. John Kerry and two members of his Foreign Relations
Committee heard a clear message Monday in El Paso: Sending U.S. soldiers to
the Mexico-U.S. border is unnecessary.

Speaking almost with one voice, police officers, politicians and
border experts who testified at a Senate field hearing said a military
buildup would be of no help as the United States tries to assist
Mexico in its war against the drug cartels.

The drug war has claimed more than 6,000 lives in Mexico since January
2008. Blood has been spilled in just about every major Mexican city,
including those along the border, leading to worries that the violence
could expand to the United States. In recent weeks, law enforcement
officials in Denver and Tucson have said drug violence with roots in
Mexico had touched their communities.

El Paso's elected officials told a different story to Kerry's
committee.

"Speculations about spillover violence persists, and is at times
exaggerated in some instances to benefit other agendas," District
Attorney Jaime Esparza said. "I don't think we've reached the point
where the National Guard is needed along the border."

Esparza, who has been El Paso's top prosecutor for 16 years, was the
first person to testify at the hearing at the University of Texas at
El Paso, which drew about 150 spectators.

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, who hosted the committee members
and sat with them during the hearing, said he asked Texas Gov. Rick
Perry why he called for 1,000 soldiers on the border.

"He told me he didn't know. He just wanted to have the request out
there," Reyes said.

Attempts to reach the Republican governor on Monday were unsuccessful.
However, Perry was not alone in seeking federal help, as Arizona's
governor also asked for soldiers on the border.

Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he
scheduled the hearing in El Paso so an accurate report could be gauged
of how the violence in Mexico is affecting the U.S. After three hours
of testimony, his conclusion was formed.

"There has been an exaggeration," Kerry said. "The spillover issue,
from the facts and statistics I heard here today, it is very clear to
me that El Paso is safe. The idea of dispatching the National Guard to
the border is premature and possibly counterproductive."

Kerry said the drug war seemed contained to Mexico.

"So far the United States has largely been spared. But it is in our
national interest, and it is our solemn obligation, to take steps
today to help curtail the killing in Mexico."

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who accompanied Kerry to El Paso for the
hearing, says Mexico is a priority for him, which is why he wanted to
hear what was occurring along the border.

"In many instances, the reports we have heard in the past have been
alarmist," Wicker said. "The violence in Mexico is severe and serious,
but there is no point in exaggerating."

To get a thorough picture of what is happening on the border, Sen.
John Barrasso, R-Wyo., arrived in El Paso early so he could tour West
Texas. He also went on a surveillance mission with the Texas National
Guard Counter Narcotics Task Force.

He was not as quick to say there was no need to send soldiers to the
border.

"We are faced with transnational criminal networks that produce,
transport and market illegal drugs," he said. "We must destroy the
cartels. The violence along the U.S.DMexico border is a serious
security challenge that we cannot simply ignore."

Reyes said the hearing would help the country's leaders differentiate
between violence in Juarez, which slowed in March when another 3,200
Mexican soldiers and federal officers arrived, and violence in El Paso
and Texas.

"Over the course of the last few months, there has been a lot of media
coverage about Mexico's violence," Reyes said. "Unfortunately, some
have generalized the violence as occurring on the border, when in
actuality the violence is occurring in Mexico."

After the hearing, Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, who attended but
did not testify, said he was pleased with what he heard from the senators.

"It is very clear that this U.S. administration wants to work with us
and help us," Reyes Ferriz said. "The previous administration wanted
to put up barriers between the two countries. They wanted to make
Mexico seem like it was a failed state, they wanted to pretend like it
was a Mexico problem that the U.S. needed to avoid.

"Now it is different. The U.S. sees that the solution is cooperation
between the two countries."

Because of the violence in Mexico, Reyes Ferriz keeps a house in El
Paso, as well as one in the city he governs.

What they said

"Our city is safe." District Attorney Jaime Esparza

"DEA estimates that 95 percent of the officials killed in Mexico were
corrupt elected officials." Joseph Arabit, El Paso DEA agent in charge

"For the drug cartels, this is a struggle to control the hearts and
minds of the people." Howard Campbell, UTEP professor

"The armies that the cartels use are the police." Ricardo Garcia
Carriles, former Juarez police chief

Speakout

"In the past six months we have seen an increase in the number of
grenades that the cartels have."

William McMahon, ATF deputy assistant director