Not Adding Up

In a speech marking his first three years in office, Calderón said the army will remain on the streets for the immediate future. At the same time, the chairman of the National Defense Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, Ardelio Vargas, said that the money budgeted for military expenditures (some $3 billion, which suddenly does seem really small for a nation of 100 million people) in 2010 is insufficient.

I don't see what it preventing Calderón from offering a broad timeline for the removal of troops. The counterinsurgency argument against withdrawal timelines --the bad guys will just bide their time waiting for the troops to leave-- doesn't really apply here, and everyone agrees that the army is not a long-term solution. Genaro García Luna's efforts to revitalize the Federal Police should be far enough along for the federal government to offer a reasonable estimate of when the soldiers can be removed from the streets. Giving such a timeline would also offer Calderón the chance to articulate a policy as to when the army is to be called upon in the future.