Pajamas Media has opinions on Mexico. Much like the crazy man outside of the Oxxo who several minutes ago told me I was going to hell because I was wearing red, I don't think this merits much of a response beyond the instinctive eyeball-widening. It is interesting, however, in a fleeting sort of way:
Violence can only be reduced by the threat of superior force. In most nations, that threat comes from the government, but when a government fails to provide adequate police and soldiers acting by proxy, then citizens must play a more direct role to protect civil society. If the communities collapse, then so will the neighborhoods, then the cities and states, until ultimately the country itself will fall.
The Iraqi experience has taught us that military and paramilitary forces alone cannot stop terrorism. If Mexican President Felipe Calderón and President Obama are serious about quelling the violence in Mexico, they must begin by ending the cartels’ near monopoly of weapons, and the Mexican and American governments must immediately begin working together to adopt policies that increase the flow of legal guns and ammunition to law-abiding Mexican citizens. Modern guns are not needed. World War II-era surplus rifles would suffice, as would the millions of available Chinese SKS rifles. With a modicum of training and community organization, Mexican citizens could be empowered to defend their communities and assist their police and military forces.
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