Mexican ex-cops murdered an American attorney while in Texas. -War is Boring

Mexican troops on patrol in 2009. War is Boring.

Last year an American attorney was executed by three hitmen from Mexico in Southlake, Texas. -War is Boring. The hit was committed by a team of two father and son Mexican ex-cops and one relative of one of the cops. The victim was one of the attorneys representing ex-Gulf Cartel leader Osiel "El Loco" Cardenas, who is currently incarcerated in the United States. The hit was highly organized and well planned and involved months of intelligence gathering and the use of tracking devices. They were caught when one of the tracking devices was left behind and discovered by the FBI. The fact that this was a high profile assassination almost certainly carried out by Gulf Cartel assassins is cause for concern. 

My Comment:

I've been waiting for an excuse to post about the Mexican Drug War for quite some time, so this article by War is Boring is welcome. I hadn't heard about this assassination and needless to say it is worrisome. The war in Mexico, and it is a war, is every bit of a national security threat as ISIS is, and unlike ISIS, the cartels have killed Americans in America. The fear is of course that these kinds of assassinations could become commonplace. Attorneys, judges, cops even politicians could run afoul of the cartels and get a target planted on their backs. The worst part about it is that the victims will be counted as victims of crime instead of victims of war. This was a professional operation, carried out by highly skilled assassins, every bit as deadly as Islamic Jihaidists or state sanctioned spies.  

Of course people don't really pay attention to the Mexican Drug War outside of the border states. But in 8 years 100,000 people have died including several Americans. And the cartels are absolutely brutal, right up there with ISIS in terms of how far they are willing to go. They regularly decapitate victims and commit terror attacks and have a huge social media presence as well. At least ISIS is motivated by religious beliefs, perverse and evil ones to be sure, but at least it is better then pure unadulterated greed. The cartels are a huge security threat and it is amazing to me that there isn't more outrage. 

As for what can be done, I don't think there is much. I know people want to end the war on drugs in America and one of the arguments is that it would reduce the violence in Mexico. I'm no fan of the war on drugs but it is simply too late do so. The cartels have branched out from drugs. Extortion, kidnapping, smuggling of people and other contraband, and even legitimate businesses, the cartels have their fingers in all of it. Getting rid of the drug trade won't destroy them. Only military force will do that. And other then the Mexicans, who are riddled with corruption, nobody else wants to fight them. So the war will continue to rage and more Americans will get killed.