MEXICO DRUG WARS: UNITED STATES FINALLY TAKES SOME RESPONSIBILITY

I cannot recall the last time that a top U.S. official has spoken so
clearly on the responsibility the United States had in fueling a
foreign crisis.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton accepted U.S.
responsibility for the growing war between the Mexican government and
the powerful drug cartels: "Our [the United States'] insatiable
demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to
prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to
these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."

Secretary Clinton could not have been more blunt.

The insatiable appetite Americans have for drugs is the financial
driving force for the drug wars that have wreaked havoc for years, in
Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia and more recently in Mexico.

Americans buy the drugs that provide the drug cartels the cash that
finances their operations in this country, and in turn allows them to
buy top of the line weapons in U.S. gun shops "" to arm the cartels.

As long as there is a demand for cocaine in the United States and
Europe, many countries will grow the coca plants, and refine the
product for export.

Until now, however, U.S. officials had never accepted responsibility
for the growth of the cocaine trafficking in South America. For
years, the U.S. government helped the Colombian military with weapons
and intelligence, which allowed President Alvaro Uribe to wage the
most successful war against the drug lords in his country.

But with the kind of money the cocaine trades produced, it wasn't
long before the Colombian cartels were supplanted by even more
violent Mexican drug cartels. As the United States and Colombia
closed the cocaine routes over the Caribbean, others grew in Mexico.

Mexican drug cartels battled each other and the government for
control of these routes until Mexican President Felipe Calderon
declared war on them. Thousands on both sides have now died. Most in
northern Mexico "" in cities and towns just across the border from
the United States.

With violence threatening to spread north, Secretary Clinton promised
assistance. But the most important thing she did was admit our
responsibility in creating the problem. It's about time!