U.S. must help neighbors fight drug wars

When President Obama visited El Salvador in March, he offered an acute analysis of the danger represented by homegrown criminal gangs and international narcotics cartels. This is a shared problem with a shared responsibility, the president declared.

Nice speech, but where’s the beef? The unrestricted flow of drugs into the United States via Central America ― or Mexico, or the Caribbean ― represents a critical danger for those regions and for our own country. But the president’s priorities fail to reflect the scale of the problem.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, head of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee in the Senate, noted at a recent hearing that the administration’s approach of “trying to do more with less” is tantamount to a declaration of defeat: “I don’t get it,” a frustrated Mr. Menendez said in regard to the administration’s anemic efforts. “I just don’t get it.”

This came at a hearing in which administration experts noted that the budget request for the principal State Department agency fighting drugs from abroad was being reduced to $565 million in 2012 from $701.4 million in 2010.

Sen. Menendez was similarly frustrated with the inability to stop illicit arms trafficking from the United States into Mexico: “I don’t understand the lack of effort,” he said. “How does that public policy make sense for the United States?” His lament was sparked by administration witnesses conceding that, even armed with good intelligence, U.S. agents often fail to intercept arms traffickers.

In an era when budgets are tight, cutbacks are understandable. But the United States must face up to its responsibility for drug violence because it finances this criminal activity through its demand for cocaine and also arms international cartels by supplying their weapons through retail outlets here. Ultimately, this represents a domestic threat because gangs are setting up shop in American cities.

If the president wants to match actions to words, the administration needs to be at least as serious about drug violence on our doorstep as it is about any other national security or terrorism threat. It should:

― Transfer funds from other Pentagon and State Department accounts to fight drugs in this region.

― Show greater urgency. Of the $1.6 billion in law enforcement support for Mexico and Central America under the Merida Initiative (started by the Bush administration), only $416 million has been delivered so far.

― Provide better coordination. Various reports have documented that Justice Department agencies ― Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the department’s own prosecutors ― do not work well together in preventing gunrunning.

― Give law enforcement greater latitude when necessary. For example: Last December, ATF proposed a new rule to require all U.S. gun stores in states along the Southwest border to submit a report when an individual purchases two or more assault-type rifles within five business days. So far, the White House has failed to act.

At the same hearing where Sen. Menendez expressed frustration with the administration’s lethargy, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida warned that the threat posed by criminal drug cartels “will only be eliminated when our demand is eliminated.”

That’s the ultimate solution, but as long as there’s demand there will be a supply. The administration must do better on both fronts.

(The Miami Herald, May 2)