Mex-Am Drug Problem

It’s sad to me to see all the nasty stuff that is going on down in ol’ Mexico. Those who know me know why I have a soft spot for that country – I lived there for a couple years as a missionary for my church. Living in another country while engaged in a work of that nature gives you a different perspective on its people. Especially so since that country is Mexico and many people in the states seem to have an opinion on what they think that country is.

That’s an aside from my reason for writing this post,though.  I just read what Hillary Clinton said about the drug violence in Juarez and all along the border – that the U.S. shares the blame for what is happening because of our demand for drugs.  I agree with her.  I think her point is very logical, but when I read down through the comments, I could hardly believe some of the things I saw.

Let me say first that this article came from a website called “One News Now“, a site that I have been receiving regular email updates from for a while now.  I gradually got the impression that this site was a so called “Christian site” because many of the views were extreme right and often referenced clergy from various Christian churches.  I read the articles as I would read any other, knowing the source from where they came.  I rarely read the comments to these articles.  I think today was the second time I have ever done so.

It was pretty incredible reading comments that immediatly discounted what Clinton had to say because of her character, family, or political affiliation.  A lot of these commenters made the argument that this liberal, anti-American, witch Hillary Clinton was selling out her country and blaming other country’s problems on our people.  Many interpreted her comments as though she said we deserve all the blame for Mexico’s drug woes.  That we should not hold the people of Mexico responsible; it’s all our fault.  Then they proceeded to insist that were the borders completely sealed off, we would be isolated from the drug problem.  Build a wall, it seems, and our drug problems would be over.

I am no big fan of Hillary Clinton, but what she said was right on.  Can we deny that there is HUGE demand for drugs in the U.S.?  Absolutely not.  Where there is huge demand, will supply not find its way to meet it, one way or another?  Absolutely.  How then can these people say that we are not at least partially to blame for this crisis?  This is not an issue to be politicized.  It is simply confronting a problem that is responsible for the deaths of I don’t know how many people in Ciudad Juarez and elsewhere, and having the courage to admit that we helped create that problem.

By admitting this, nobody is saying that we are blaming the American people for Mexico’s problems.  That’s just political crap that acts as a distraction.  The truth is that we must start fixing it by cleaning up the demand end.  Yes, we should do other things like securing the border to stop drugs from coming in.  We should continue to cut away at the branches, but we have to attack the root with much more force.  That’s the long term solution.  It’s a hard fight against a lot of druggies, but it’s the lasting solution.  Mexican drug lords will continue to satisfy our insatiable demand, and when their government gets in their way, they won’t roll over.  Too much drug money is at stake for them.

One commenter said that it is very un-Christian to say that we should wash our hands of Mexico’s problems.  I agree with her.  Work needs to be done on both sides.  Let’s not let the fact that the statement was made by a liberal like Hillary Clinton get in our way of seeing it for what it is.  That is, if you are one of those naturally inclined to disagree with her, like many of us are.

Tags:Mexico, Hillary Clinton, One News Now, Mexican drug violence