Mexican cartel’s revenge escalates drug war

Cartel bought U.S. guns
Congressman Juan Francisco Rivera, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said the United States shares the blame by feeding cartels high powered weapons bought easily north of the border.

"As long as they don't suspend the indiscriminate sale of arms in 10,000 stores along the U.S. border, Mexican police and soldiers are going to keep dying," said Rivera, the head of Congress' security commission.

Pineyro says the government needs to rotate its forces more often, alert agents to take precautions after a major arrest and limit their movements during their off hours.

Gen. Rodolfo Cruz, who oversees federal forces, said relatively few police and soldiers were killed, given the number of attacks — showing they are adequately prepared.

Public reaction
The cartel, however, may have succeeded in convincing the public otherwise.

Ciro Gomez Leyva, a columnist for Milenio newspaper, called the ambushes a "Tet offensive," referring to the offensive by the North Vietnamese army that failed but created a perception among the American public that the war could not be won.

Voters showed they are growing tired of Calderon's battle by delivering a stinging loss to his National Action Party in midterm elections July 5, though it campaigned as the only party willing to take on cartels. The drug war has left more than 11,000 people dead since Calderon took office in 2006.

"These attacks are demoralizing police and terrorizing the population into not helping officials," Pineyro said. "The government's war is flawed."

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