There’s no question that throughout America’s history, our nation’s fighting forces have been put forward as the answer to a lot of the world’s problems.
Examples? If there were Somali pirates preying on merchant vessels in the Middle East, send the Navy to police them. If there were communists infiltrating countries in Southeast Asia, send in the Marines (and other branches, too) to stop them. If there was a dictator rising up in a foreign land who threatens the world order – send in the Yankee boys and gals to make the world safe for democracy. Or something like that.
But whenever there was an issue that hits home across our own border to the south, America’s leaders have been cautious about committing fighting forces to solve it. Or, in today’s world, perhaps it’s the thought of engaging in yet another military intervention without a formal congressional declaration of war that is deemed undesirable.
Whatever the case, there’s little doubt that a wealth of evils is resulting from a lack of awareness of the millions of square miles (on both sides) of territory occupying the line with Mexico. Many rightfully label it a “crisis”. Should we simply send in the big guns again to save the day? In a commentary titled “Should We Send the Military to Counter the Mexican Drug Cartels?”, the always on-point Scott McKay wrote at The American Spectator last week:
“You won’t get a straight answer from [the Biden administration] on this or any other subject. Which should make you suspicious. And you’ll be more suspicious if you ask yourself this question: if the Biden administration was bought off by the Mexican drug cartels, what would it be doing differently than it’s doing now?
“We’re a very far cry from entertaining [Sen. John] Kennedy’s [use the military] suggestion. Perhaps it isn’t a good idea. Maybe it’s better to park the U.S. Army on the border, declare everything from Brownsville to Tijuana a military exclusion zone, shut down the ports of entry and everything between them, and simply end all traffic of people and goods unless it carries specific authorization from guys in green camouflage with little U.S. flag patches on their shoulders.
“There is a plan — Kennedy’s or somebody else’s — out there that will eliminate the mess on that border. The problem is that the regime in power isn’t interested in anything like that plan.”
Truer words were never spoken. If it could be said that pictures – and now video – are worth a thousand words, then it was evident long ago there were libraries full of evidence that something was drastically wrong at the border. It’s no longer just a question of keeping illegal aliens out to help safeguard jobs and government resources in the United States; it’s a matter of life and death. The very survival of the republic depends on doing something about the porous line – and soon.
I know people who regularly speak with sheriffs and folks who live along the nearly 2000 mile (1951 miles to be specific) international border, and they’ve indicated the locals complain that the crisis doesn’t get its due treatment in the establishment media. Further, media watchdog entities such as the Media Research Center regularly keep tabs on the amount of attention the swamp protecters devote to illegal immigration, and it’s tragic that all of this overt treason goes on without many Americans even knowing about it.
And going on it is, every hour of every day of every month of every year. Principled conservative Republicans are like voices crying in the wilderness in Congress, so much so that they run the risk of being tuned out as white noise by the gleefully ignorant who believe illegal immigration is beneficial by supplying manual laborers by the millions to every elite enclave in America. But, as with practically everything else these days, the once semi-benign problem outside the view of average people is now a rabid beast perched on each of our doorsteps.
What to do? McKay’s piece included reporting on a recent exchange between no-b.s. conservative Louisiana senator John Kennedy and DEA administrator Anne Milgram in which the Biden administration official couldn’t – or wouldn’t – answer Kennedy’s simple questions regarding the possibility of ordering the U.S. military to join with the Mexican government to annihilate the cartels.
Similar entreaties to other Biden spokespeople have been greeted with the same blank stares, pathetic excuses and outright denial. Do the Democrats even get what’s going on? Here’s thinking the answer is “yes”, and the liberals’ response was to assign vice president cackling Kamala Harris to lead their team. Two years later, I don’t think Kamala has even visited the men and women dealing with the immediate problem much less done anything to help them.
So, is it time to send in the U.S. troops? The notion is certainly attractive and the subject sounds like a great way to entice viewers to a conservative media outlet. Hypothetically speaking, all the Americans would need to do is launch a few cruise missiles or fly a series of sorties by the graduates from Top Gun to blow up the cartel labs and kill all the scum in one fell swoop, right? Or we could simply enlist Rambo to do it himself (there’s already been a Rambo movie – Last Blood -- addressing the topic) by taking on and defeating the bad guys in a semi-suicide mission.
And there’s little question that the U.S. military could go in, break a lot of stuff, kill most of the perpetrators and slow down or stave off, for a time, the menace of illegal drugs and human trafficking stemming from the Mexican cartels.
But what then? So little thought goes into the “what’s next?” part of the dilemma. Here’s thinking it wouldn’t be in America’s best interest to blindly use troops for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the Mexican government wouldn’t cooperate. It’s hardly a secret that many of the top Mexican officials are corrupt and all-but assisting the cartels.
How do we know? The cartels continue to exist without the Mexican government sending their own forces en masse to do away with them. There may be covert moves no one hears about, but by all appearances, the cartels govern themselves without significant interference. Or their numbers are so big that the government doesn’t dare fight them. Or the Mexican government is so weak and apathetic that they simply look the other way while the exploitation goes on. I’d bet the last possibility is the true one.
So therefore, joining up with the Mexican army isn’t really a viable option.
And neither is going in and taking them out solely with American forces. This country is not ready (either psychologically or practically) for a prolonged shooting conflict with Mexico, and if we’re conducting military operations in a foreign nation’s territory, a war is exactly what it’s called. How many troops would be required to hold the conquered land? Additionally, how many billions of dollars would it take to supply the military with the means to fight down there?
With America’s military stocks already depleted by the war in Ukraine, how could we possibly sustain what would amount to a two-front war and still leave sufficient supplies for all of the other potential hot spots on the globe? There aren’t enough arms factories in Alabama to make the bullets and bombs we’d need, and thanks to the “woke” U.S. military brass, its branches aren’t coming close to meeting recruiting goals. Patriotic Americans won’t send their sons and daughters to serve any longer, mostly because of the current regime’s obsession with rooting out free thought.
Another reason not to start a hot war with the Mexican cartels is the potentially unforeseen effects of attacking an enemy no one can identify. The cartels certainly have agents and well-paid criminals in many places in our country. Who’s to say these groups wouldn’t rise up and “defend” their bosses in Mexico? Who would stop them? How would we find them? With likely tens of millions of illegal invaders having already established residence in the U.S., the likelihood of keeping the population subdued while the “war” goes on in Mexico… well, you can read the writing on the wall.
Besides, the military can’t solve every issue by blowing enemies to smithereens and dismantling their capability. We’ve learned that lesson in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other nations. As soon as one enemy is taken out, others fill the void. And there’s enough cash in Mexico to attract plenty of willing new recruits, too.
As the 2024 campaign (primaries and general) continues, one can’t help but surmise the fentanyl/Mexican cartel issue will join a few others at center stage as the things American voters care most about. Why? Because the numbers are simply too staggering to ignore. And this isn’t a problem that should be relegated to local law enforcement and health officials to deal with. This isn’t merely a single coal mining town in West Virginia that’s been infested with overdose deaths due to a lack of opportunity for its youth. When tens of thousands of Americans in certain age groups – in this case, mostly young adults – are succumbing to the ravages of lethal drugs, where one pill is sometimes sufficient to kill a person, and we know where the stuff is coming from, it’s a matter of national responsibility to combat, devote resources to, and hopefully, snuff it out.
Much could be accomplished simply by enforcing the laws and to stop treating illegal “migrants” like they’re temporary guests in need of money, food, housing and transportation. What would be wrong with devoting the billions that would be used to support a military operation to sealing the border instead?
That’s one “easy” solution that doesn’t get nearly enough play these days. But we must think about what can be done short of risking more American lives to defeat the Mexican cartels.
Joe Biden economy
inflation
Biden cognitive decline
gas prices,
Nancy Pelosi
Biden senile
January 6 Committee
Liz Cheney
Build Back Better
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election