Morning News

I really don't have to look very hard for interesting drug war related news any more.

Today's Must Read at TPM:

Federal officials say their decision to dissolve the Internal Affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection unit a few years ago was a bad idea (go figure), and now the Department of Homeland Security is reconstituting it. Reborn with a whopping five investigators last year, the unit is projected to grow to 200 by the end of this year.

The New York Times reports this morning that a growing number of border patrol guards are under investigation for taking bribes from smugglers and letting vehicles packed with drugs and people pass into the U.S. unchecked.

Wow! Who could've guessed that would happen?

One law enforcement expert describes "policing the border as 'potentially one of the most corruptible tasks in law enforcement' because of the solitary nature of much of the work and the desperation of people seeking to cross."

Or possibly the large sums of money being offered to them? Why do so many people in law enforcement seem to intentionally avoid this fact?

And top story at CNN.com:

The battle against the cartels intensified last year. Shortly after taking office in January 2007, President Felipe Calderon vowed to take more aggressive action against drug traffickers. He sent thousands of military and federal police to fight them in the states where the cartels waged the most influence -- mostly in central and northern Mexico.

Federal troops were sent in because, government sources say, local and state police in many regions in northern Mexico tip off drug gangs to raids, provide protection to them and fail to arrest gang members.

How many local police might be tied to the cartels?

"A significant amount that is unacceptable to many, including the Mexican government," said one U.S. anti-narcotics official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The government's crackdown has met a vicious response: Authorities say more than 1,000 people -- including gang members, police and civilians -- have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since the start of this year, primarily in the northern and central parts of the country.

Several high-level and mid-level federal police officers have been shot and killed, and the killings have begun to strike closer to home. One of the most shocking took place May 8, when Mexico's highest-ranking federal police officer, Edgar Millan, was gunned down outside his home.

At least 170 local police officers have been killed -- some who were doing their jobs, and others who were involved with drug gangs and killed by rivals, authorities say. Other police have resigned out of fear for their lives.

Of course, the article still follows the traditional media's drug war protocol, remaining optimistic that we will somehow win this useless, pointless war.

UPDATE: Neal Peirce writes about the smarter approach in today's Seattle Times.