MEXICO POLL: PUBLIC LOSING CONFIDENCE IN DRUG WAR

Public confidence in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's war on drugs
is plummeting quickly in that violence-torn country. As recently as
March of this year, 47 percent of those questioned said the drug war
that was launched in 2006 was a success.

But a poll released last week by the Mitofsky polling agency showed a
reversal in that attitude, with 49 percent saying the drug war is a
failure, and only 33 percent calling it a success.

It just underscores an obvious point.

Only someone wearing heavily rose-colored glasses could see even a
glimmer of success in the drug war.

The personal tragedies, physical destruction, social upheaval and
economic devastation show no signs of lessening, and no one in power
seems to have either the ability or dedication necessary to bring the
narco violence to an end.

Such poll results can only be heartening for drug cartels, because it
shows that they are winning the battle. Government and law-enforcement
ineffectiveness and corruption merely add to the cartels' power and
influence.

Calderon said last week that the violence plaguing the nation wasn't a
result of government actions.

He said the responsibility lies with the cartels. He's only partially
correct.

While the cartels might be directly responsible for the violence, the
government is an accomplice because it is not controlling the
violence. The government must not abdicate its responsibility in this
manner.

Calderon said, "There are those who think that it would have been
better not to combat the criminal actions. Those people are wrong."

He's right.

Inaction is not an option.

But neither is a continuing, ineffective, impotent effort that has
only seen violence increase.

Another variable in this situation is what direction the public's
growing malaise and discontent might take.

We've already seen vigilante action in the town of Ascencion by
Mexicans fed up with being victims who have no recourse. While such
tactics aren't desirable, they are an indication of a public being
squeezed between the rock of cartel violence and the hard place of
government inaction and ineffectiveness.

The Mexican government should pay close attention to the Mitofsky poll
- -- and do something about reversing the trend.