ESCALATION IN MEXICO

Casino Fire Signals A New Stage In Criminal Violence That Mexico-U.S.
Must Battle Together

The appalling barbarity of a deliberately set casino fire that left 52
people dead in the northern city of Monterrey last week is all the
more reason for Mexican President Felipe CalderA3n to intensify his
country's courageous fight against drug criminals and for the United
States to do everything it can to help its southern neighbor. Mexico
is waging the fight of its life, with an uncertain outcome that
carries huge stakes for the future of that country and the well-being
of the United States, as well.

Mexicans have traditionally been wary of any "oehelp" from the
United States. They fear it comes with strings attached and represents
some form of intervention in domestic affairs. The latest escalation
by that country's savage mobsters should be reason enough to set
aside all such notions once and for all.

The casino fire was a flagrant act of terrorism that cannot go
unanswered. If once there were well-founded reasons for Mexico's
suspicion of U.S. motives, such attitudes must change as the two
countries face a common enemy that flaunts its brutal methods and
shows deep contempt for authority and disregard for common decency.

Clearly, Mexicans are getting exhausted, and increasingly fear for
their lives. In the five years since President CalderA3n decided to
confront the growing menace posed by drug criminals, some 35,000
people have died. Not since the days of the Mexican Revolution, 100
years ago, and the Cristero uprising that followed it, has Mexico
undergone such incredible violence. But giving in to the drug
criminals "" just standing aside and letting them go about their
business undisturbed "" is no solution.

Colombians learned that the hard way decades ago when they turned a
blind eye to narcotics gangsters whose toxic product was destined for
the United States, with the result that before long the gangsters were
challenging the power of the state and murdering presidential
candidates who believed criminals should be in jail. The casino fire
in Mexico might not be tied directly to narcotics trafficking, but the
violence of the drug wars has led to an inevitable deterioration of
social norms and a general breakdown of law and order that no
civilized country can tolerate.

President CalderA3n rightly blamed his own Congress for failing to
understand the nature of the challenge the country faces. In a speech
after last week's attack, he called on lawmakers to enact security
reforms and bravely vowed to press on. He also blamed corruption
within Mexico's judiciary and police forces for abetting the
criminals and called for a national campaign to clean up the
nation's institutions.

More important, for the United States, Mexico's president scolded
the United States for its consumption of drugs "" the driving force
behind the illicit drug trade "" and the ease with which Mexican
gangsters can buy their weapons in this country. President Obama
responded by accepting a share of "oeresponsibility for meeting this
challenge."

If he means that, Mr. Obama should do everything in his power to crack
down on gun sales along the border. The White House has already taken
steps to increase reporting of large-volume gun sales in an effort to
cut down on such purchases in states bordering Mexico. Clearly,
that's not enough. Mr. Obama should defy the knee-jerk opposition of
the National Rifle Association to every sensible form of gun
regulation and ask Congress to do its part to stop the violence
engulfing Mexico.