U.S. MUST TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE CARTELS IN MEXICO

The Mexican government is in a fight to the death with powerful drug
cartels, and the Obama administration's main focus appears to be
preventing the violence from crossing our border. Yet allowing the
cartels to win would be disastrous for the Mexican people and
dangerous for the United States.

U.S. strategy should be not just to bolster our borders but to help
Mexico establish the rule of law and score a decisive victory against
the cartels that both menace that country and threaten our own
security and prosperity.

Mexico's fight against organized crime has raged for decades, but for
years it has received very little attention from U.S. media or
lawmakers. In fact, Mexico received virtually no attention during the
2008 presidential campaign.

President Felipe Calderon's brave stand has cost Mexico dearly; in the
past two years, more than 10,000 people have been killed in
drug-related violence, including Mexico City's top federal police
chief, Cancun's top drug enforcement officer and more than 900 other
law enforcement officials.

Cartels kill innocent civilians, kidnap and kill children to blackmail
or punish their parents, and gruesomely murder journalists, police
officers, soldiers and civilians to intimidate the government into not
taking action.

In its own right, this is a fight worth joining. But the United States
has additional incentives: The cartels are bankrolled by the proceeds
from drug sales in this country - the same place they get most of the
guns they use to kill Mexican civilians and police officers.

There are also strategic reasons for greater U.S. involvement: The war
between the Calderon administration and the cartels has generated
waves of crime along the U.S.-Mexico border.

If the Mexican government falters, we can expect even more violence
and a severely hobbled Mexican economy, which will fuel more illegal
immigration to the United States. And potential interaction among the
cartels and terrorist organizations seeking sanctuary and access to
the United States is a threat we must take seriously.

Our government is implementing some measures to stem cross-border
violence and begin disrupting some of the flow of money and guns back
into Mexico, but more can and should be done. The Obama administration
should take four additional steps to help combat the cartels.

First, increase aid to the Mexican government. Last year's Merida
initiative - $400 million in aid for equipment and training - was a
good start. But Mexico needs more aid and U.S. assistance to implement
a comprehensive strategy to defeat the cartels.

This must include deploying new security technologies and building a
better law enforcement and criminal-justice system.

Second, the U.S. military and Coast Guard should do more to help
Mexico patrol its coasts and stop drugs from Central and South America
from arriving by boat. Because these drugs are destined for the United
States, helping to control Mexico's borders would relieve pressure on
ours.

Third, we should do far more to prevent cash and guns - the lifeblood
of the cartels - from moving into Mexico from this country.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has taken some initial
steps to increase outbound enforcement efforts in some areas, it does
not have a comprehensive or continuous outbound enforcement strategy

Fourth, we should mount a comprehensive effort against the cartels
here, including more criminal investigations focused on dismantling
them and their interests inside our borders.

The recent arrest of 52 people associated with the Sinaloa cartel,
announced by Attorney General Eric Holder as part of "Operation
Xcellerator," is an excellent start.

Additionally, we should implement more aggressive education and media
campaigns, and treatment measures, to reduce the demand for cocaine,
marijuana and methamphetamine in the United States.

A gradually expanded guest-worker program would deprive the cartels of
significant revenue associated with smuggling hundreds of thousands of
people into the United States each year.

Helping Mexico defeat the cartels is as important as success in Iraq
or Afghanistan. We cannot allow the cartels to destabilize Mexico,
commit crimes in the United States, or align themselves with other
transnational criminal or terrorist organizations.