The Mexican border town of Matamoros was a virtual war scene Tuesday, and that's just one low-light in another week of unrelenting prohibition-related violence south of the border.
Between now and the seating of a new Congress after the 2012 elections, drug reform is going to be a tough slog on Capitol Hill. But that doesn't mean reformers are going away, or that there aren't battles to be fought and won.
All those drug busts don't seem to make any difference. (image via Wikimedia)
Along with the usual carnage and corruption, suspected Zetas killed 52 casino goers in a gasoline/fire attack, teachers skipped school following extortion threats, authorities bust a Sinaloa Cartel "cell" in Utah, and one cartel has put up "wanted" posters targeting leaders of another cartel and offered rewards for them.
The University of Texas-El Paso Border Security Conference saw a shift announced in Plan Merida priorities and a lot of happy talk about defeating the cartels, but little discussion of ending the drug war.
All the drug busts in Mexico don't seem to make a difference. (image via Wikimedia)
You know things are messed up when the federal police are shooting at the head of the Ciudad Juarez police. Oh, and 216 more people were killed there in the drug wars last month.