National Context
Even if the drug war between different cartels and their fight against the police seems far away, the situation in Mexico could affect the United States economically and socially. America has relationships with its neighbor relating to immigration, trade, and narcotic operations. The importance of the U.S./Mexico relationship should not be underestimated. Mexico is the United States’ third-largest trading partner and 80 percent of Mexico’s legal exports are made for U.S. consumption. But the real problem is that Americans are also the Mexican drug cartels’ best customers because there is great demand for drugs. 90 percent of cocaine enters the U.S. through the Mexican border. Cartels also produce 80 percent of the crystal meth sold in America, 14 percent of the heroin, and a huge amount of marijuana. American dollars are basically funding drugs wars which have resulted in the death of over 34,000 people in the past four years. In return, Mexico is the biggest buyer of weapons from America. The Obama Administration shipped guns into Mexico so that they could "track them." Some of these guns could have been used to kill U.S. agents. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates that around 90 percent of weapons taken away at the border or after violent crime, is produced in the U.S. So basically the U.S. is fighting against the cartels by selling them weapons to kill innocent people. Another reason why Mexico is dangerous to America is the cartels’ potential violence. The U.S Defense Department says that two of Mexico’s biggest drug cartels have about 100,000 foot soldiers, 30,000 men less than the Mexican army. If these cartels are unified against the U.S., the whole country could fall into chaos and war. The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that Mexican drug cartels have gang members in nearly 200 U.S. cities from Los Angeles to Baltimore and represent the “largest threat to both citizens and law enforcement agencies in this country.” So while it is okay to worry about Pakistan and Afghanistan, the violence in Mexico is an extremely serious U.S. national security issue as well. The U.S. should monitor weapon sales and pursue a widespread effort to combat the ruthless drug lords from border protection policies. Over all, the drug wars in Mexico have already claimed nearly 40,000 lives since 2006 in a massacre of be headings, kidnappings, and torture. The violence that powerful Mexican cartels have brought into the border regions of the United States is underestimated. The battle between Mexican drug cartels has spilled deeper into U.S. territory than anyone has imagined.