(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
As drug-related violence escalates in Mexico there's been chatter this week about the possibility of sending U.S. troops to the border.
President Barack Obama says states, including Texas, have asked for National Guard troops to be deployed to the border; however the Pentagon says it hasn't received specific requests to do so. A Pentagon spokesman says the U.S. is already providing the Mexican government with five helicopters, a Marine surveillance vehicle and hand-held scanners. He adds that any troops that would be sent would only protect the U.S. side of the border, and that there are no talks of sending them into Mexico.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, went to Mexico last week and is highlighting the need to work more with Mexico's military. He says the violence is rising there because the government is taking on drug cartels more directly - and that this is an opportunity for the U.S. to cooperate.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the U.S. will soon send a large contingent of federal agents to the border; among other things, they will step up car inspections.
Mexican officials say the violence killed more than 6,200 people last year and more than 1,000 in the first two months of this year. One U.S. official has called Mexican drug cartels the biggest organized crime threat facing America.
Here’s my question to you: In light of increased drug-related violence in Mexico, should the U.S. send troops to the border?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Mark writes:
Jack, It may very well come to that, but if so, the issue of U.S. troops on the border would need to be handled with a great deal of sensitivity… We must start treating the Mexicans as allies and friends. After all, Mexico's people, police forces, and army are the ones who are paying the ultimate price for America's appetite for illegal drugs.
Terry writes:
No. Our troops are spread too thin. Boycott tourism to Mexico. It costs the U.S. less, saves the lives of our troops, and sends a message that Mexico's government needs to clean up its own mess.
Lucy from Illinois writes:
The Russians put up the Berlin Wall and shot everyone who tried to cross it. That is what needs to be done on our borders. We have to protect U.S. citizens from the violence and drugs.
Roland from Greenville, South Carolina writes:
When people decry the spending of our national treasure for skeptical purposes, does anyone consider how many billions of dollars we've spent on the 'War on Drugs' over the last 4 decades? We've spent hundreds of billions in Columbia alone. Media and political types hype about the success or failure of our wars in the Middle East. Has anyone measured the abject failure of this particular conflict?
Mark from New York writes:
Jack, The idea that the killings happening in Mexico right now are just a few miles from the border is scary. Sending troops to the border to protect us from this potential threat makes more sense than sending troops for years and years to a foreign country.
Brandon from Jamestown, Virginia writes:
Being a Bill Buckley conservative, I say cut the drug cartels off at the source: legalize it. Every year, the war on drugs costs us billions and billions and every year the cartels get bigger, richer and more resourceful. You can send all the troops you want, the demand will still be there and the problem will continue to grow.