> Mexico is starting to show a touch of hope, but it is still too little to toss over a billion dollars with no strings attached over the border.
Mexico is the world’s 12th largest economy by GDP, and passed a trillion per year in 2004. It is roughly 1.4 trillion now. 1.4 billion of the Merida Initiative isn’t diddly squat to us, or to them. What is important is the military hardware and training that is not sold on the free market. There is no other way to get it than by through Congress. That is the importance of the Merida Initiative, which is exactly like what we did with Colombia. We have dome that with dozens of other nations throughout the world, and you don’t mind a bit. But Mexico you don’t though a narco war directly threatens US citizens and Calderon was elected on a get tough with criminals and narcos policy. The Mexican public is demanding a crackdown. It makes no sense to oppose selling military hardware, training, and support to defeat these vicious thugs.
