by Michael Webster
NWS Columnist

.. Juarez To Michoacán. Mexican President Felipe Calderon is sending over 5,500 more troops and ..

    ... federal police from war torn Juarez to war torn Michoacán where according to authorities 16 police officers have been slain through well-coordinated attacks and the same authorities hold the La Familia Mexican drug cartel  responsible for those slayings.

The troops will be used to confront the Mexican drug cartel La Familia in Michoacán where the Mexican president is from and has become the latest focus point of the Mexican Governments war on drugs.

  Thousands of Mexican troops some camouflage-clad with red berets flew into the Mexican city of Michoacán to quell a surge in drug gang murders that has killed 16 local police. These troops are being rushed in from Juarez which many believe will leave the city un-protected. (Laguna Journals/Reuters/Henry Romero & Michael Webster)

The Mexican government had just recently rushed 1000 solders to Michoacán where local police told the Laguna Journal that 1000 was not enough and the additional 5,500 will not be enough according to these same unidentified law enforcement officers "we are very much out numbered and out gunned." said an active Mexican solder.

This latest move included combat U.S. helicopters, night vision head gear and weapons and other new sophisticated combat equipment. This latest emergency action is believed a move to demonstrate a fierce show of resolve on the part of the Calderon administration.

A high ranking military officer told the Laguna Journal that he believes that the Mexican government is dangerously under manned and the Mexican forces who are attempting to eradicate the Mexican drug cartels are woefully incompetent for the task at hand and will need special training from U.S. Special Forces.

This officer also indicated that moving troops from Juarez to Michoacán is not a good strategy and will at best only serve as a temporary stop gap measure and will only result in even more violence in the already most dangerous city in Mexico Juarez.

According to this same officer who wishes to remain anonymous said, "we are suffering from not having enough boots on the ground and by taking troops from one area to another will not work, just as it did not work for the U.S. in the Middle East. What the Mexican army must learn to do is have enough trained solders to not only take a town or real-estate but then be able to keep it by leaving enough troops in place to accomplish that end."

Jose Rosa of Juarez said, "why is president Caldron taking troops from Juarez a main city on the border with the U.S. a big city that is very dangerous and totally out of control? Is it because Michoacán is his home town?"

High level Mexican military and government sources revealed that U.S. Special Forces and DEA agents are operating in Mexico. They have been allowed into Mexico to train Mexican troops and to seek clandestine terrorist groups believe operating in Mexico. The government of Felipe Calderon authorized some American Special Forces and US anti-narcotics agents to operate in some states without oversight by Mexican authorities.

President Barack Obama according to many observers is apparently attempting to fulfill a campaign pledge to strengthen the U.S. Mexican border. He released his new National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy of 2009. It purports that the U.S. Government including the military will respond to immediate threats associated with the substantial increase in violence in Mexico allegedly resulting from the pressure placed on the Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) by Mexico President Felipe J. Calderón. Since taking office in 2006, Calderon has sent more than 50,000 troops and Federal Police to areas plagued by drug violence.

The report points out that drug trafficking across the Southwest border remains acute and the biggest threat to our homeland security and one of the top drug control priorities for the United States. Mexican drug trafficking organizations have come to dominate the illegal drug supply chain, taking ownership of drug shipments after they depart South America and overseeing their transportation to market and distribution throughout the United States.

The MDC’s are also reported to be providing food, medicines and cash to their gangs and paramilitary families back home in small villages and towns throughout Mexico. The MDC’s are paying people to attend marches and has handed out backpacks full of schoolbooks, pens and paper to poor families who joined the demonstrations, acting as a sort of Robin Hood, police said.

Two of Mexico's deadliest drug cartels have reached a combined force of over 100,000 foot soldiers, wreaking havoc across the country and threatening U.S. border states, the U.S. Defense Department told The Washington Times.

The cartels rival the Mexican army in size and have both Mexico and the U.S. in crisis mode as they deal with what they fear is a coming insurgency along the U.S. Mexican border and the biggest threat to the U.S. Security.

U.S. Military Headed For The Border To Protect Us Or What?

Sources:
National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy of 2009
Mexican solders in the field. (Names withheld)
Mexican Government authorities (anonymous)
Mexico newspapers

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. July 17, 2009 at 2:30 Pm PDT

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