Mexican Military Offensive Against Drug Violence Ineffective

In the Time article How Mexico's Drug War May Become Its Iraq, Ioan Grillo describes Mexico's efforts to curtail drug violence throughout the country, and how its citizens do not have confidence in the military presence. Violence has only increased recently, with January being the bloodiest month in the drug war. The military has also been criticized for only targeting some drug cartels, which strengthens rival cartels. In a poll, half of Mexicans believed the government involvement had only increased the violence, while only 20% thought it had made the country safer. The United States has made agreements with Mexico to work together on security

Comparativists should look at this article to examine citizens, society and the state. Mexico is in the position of having to use its military against its own people. The violence is not aimed at the government and is not political in nature, but the organized crime has gotten so out of control that it must be dealt with like a full on war. This is proving difficult for the military to control, since a drug cartels goal is to evade the soldiers to continue with illegal activity, as opposed to a front in a war.