Longtime conservative commentator Rich Lowry took the GOP presidential candidates to the shed for proposing military invasion of Mexico to stop drug cartels in an opinion piece for POLITICO, saying that they are "kidding themselves" about what that would involve.
The idea has been kicking around in Republican circles for years in various forms; in 2019, former President Donald Trump considered designating the cartels terrorist groups, which would open the door to drone strikes on their hideouts in Northern Mexico, but ultimately abandoned the plan after backlash. Now, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for military or anti-terrorist operations against the cartels — but so are some other Republican presidential candidates, including former Texas Congressman Will Hurd, who previously represented a district that contains the majority of the Texas-Mexico border.
But charging into Mexico guns blazing is a shortsighted idea that will only make the border situation even worse, warned Lowry.
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"We aren’t going to drone or raid our way to a secure Southern border. The frustrating reality is that there is no alternative to working with the Mexican government, which is going to be protective of its territory and national pride, especially vis-a-vis the giant to its north," wrote Lowry. Indeed, the Mexican president has made clear he will not allow U.S. military operations in his country.
"The drug cartels are a hellish problem. They traffic drugs and people into the United States and have their tentacles deep in the Mexican government, buying off and assassinating officials as necessary," wrote Lowry. "Grinding down such organizations that are deeply embedded in a society isn’t a matter of a few raids on headquarters or labs or decapitation strikes. Defeating them requires more of a war of counterinsurgency, denying them safe quarter and public support in a long-term, multifaceted fight ranging from military action to anti-corruption initiatives." The U.S. managed to pull this off in Colombia, noted Lowry, but that was because the Colombian government was fully committed to wiping out the FARC rebels and coordinated with the U.S., whereas Mexico doesn't have the political unity or capability right now to conduct a similar operation and is mired in deeply embedded corruption.
In the meantime, said Lowry, only enhanced border security combined with diplomatic pressure to resolve the corruption in Mexico to the point of being able to restore the law is a realistic path forward.
"Hitting targets in Mexico can’t and won’t be a Day One task of a Republican president, but the deteriorating state of Mexico is going to require clear-eyed and creative thinking," he concluded.
