WILLIAM BENNETT: We owe it to our fallen to wage war against Mexican cartels

A member of the prosecutor’s office stands guard near a burning bus on a main avenue after it was set on fire by organized crime groups in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, on Feb.22.(Ulises Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images)

The cartels maintain cells in all 50 states, using them to control the importation and distribution of nearly all the fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin and much of the cocaine entering our country.Since 1999, their poison has killed more than 1 million Americans.The opioid crisis alone has claimed nearly eight times as many American lives as every U.S.military conflict since World War II combined.

Read More → Private autonomous pods could redefine ride-sharing

When I served as U.S.drug czar under President George H.W.Bush, I often heard the argument that the real problem was demand for drugs in America — that the cartels were merely meeting it.

The evidence tells a different story: oversupply of drugs directly contributes to demand.

MAJOR DRUG LORD ‘EL MENCHO’ KILLED IN MEXICAN MILITARY OPERATION WITH US INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT

In the opioid epidemic, overdose deaths are tightly correlated with surges in supply.Cartels flood the market with cheap,ultra-potent fentanyland press it into counterfeit pills that look like legitimate prescription medicine, hooking unsuspecting users.They also use sophisticated social media tactics to target teenagers and young adults.These are not passive suppliers but industrial-scale predators cultivating new generations of addicts.

The human and economic toll is staggering.The cartels have hollowed out American communities and fueled waves of crime in cities and small towns across the country.They have cost America hundreds of billions in healthcare and law enforcement expenses, to say nothing of lost productivity.

For years, politicians largely sat by and watched.It took Trump to name the cartels for what they are — anational security threat— and commit our military, diplomatic and intelligence resources to stopping them.

The death of El Mencho was a good start, but not more than that.This was immediately clear when cartel loyalists conducted awidespread campaign of retaliationacross Mexico, burning vehicles to create roadblocks and killing at least 25 Mexican national guard members.

corruption tacticsthat shield them from justice.

The Trump administration rightfully designated all six major Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, but they are more than that. 

Read More → MIKE DAVIS: Chicagoland, where teachers can support Charlie Kirk’s killing, but not ICE

Trump said after the raid that Mexico must continue to “step up their effort” on cartels and drugs.He is right, and America must do the same.

onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.

That requires being honest about what is at stake.This is not just a strategic fight but a moral one.The drugs from these cartels corrode our national spirit and attack the dignity of human life.They normalize lawlessness and target our most vulnerable, including our youth — our future. 

Read More → Alarming cancer symptoms highlighted by popular actor’s early death

The war against the cartels will require persistence and moral clarity to win outright.And win outright we must.We owe it to the more than 1 million Americans already lost, and the many more who hang in the balance. 

Related Article

William J.Bennett joined FNC as a contributor in 2017.

The former Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan and the nation’s first Drug Czar under President George H.W.Bush, Bennett is one of America’s most recognized voices on cultural, political and educational issues.He also served as a professor at Boston University, the University of Texas, and Harvard University.

A native of Brooklyn in New York City, Bennett studied philosophy at Williams College (B.A.) and the University of Texas (Ph.D.) and earned a law degree (J.D.) from Harvard.

In addition to his role at FNC, Bennett currently serves as chairman of Resilience Learning and is the Founding Provost of Jefferson Classical Academies.He has written or co-authored more than 25 books, including the Book of Virtues.