EMBEDDED AGENTS: DENIAL BY U.S. EMBASSY IN MEXICO

This seems fishy, but then again it's the stuff of spy games. The U.S.
Embassy in Mexico is saying we are not embedding our agents in Mexican
anti-drug units in Juarez.

If not, why not? Do we not have agents embedded in strategic spots
around the world, be they DEA, CIA or others? Is not Juarez drug-war
torn, and perhaps the most violent city in the world?

Meanwhile, last week U.S. Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano and
Mexican Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said they have
agreed to expand what has been a pilot program. That is, U.S. Border
Patrol officers working with Mexican National Police, on both sides of
the border, to fight drug trafficking and human smuggling.

Common sense.

But U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual denied information
published by the Washington Post that our agents would work from a
Mexican command center in Juarez. He said cooperation between the U.S.
and Mexico is limited to equipment, training and intelligence-sharing.

As far back as 2008, the El Paso Times reported that DEA agents worked
with Mexico's military and federal police in Juarez.

When asked Wednesday, DEA officials in El Paso did not want to comment
on the matter.

It's hard to imagine that U.S. agents, upon invitation, are not
working in what is considered the world's most dangerous city -- just
a bridge stroll away from El Paso.

If not, why not?