Fareed Zakaria’s July 8 op-ed, “Declaring war on Mexican cartels is popular. That doesn’t mean it’s smart.,” omitted a crucial weapon in combating the scourge of drugs into our country and the fuel that allows the Mexican cartels to flourish: Each year, hundreds of thousands of guns are smuggled into Mexico. These guns flow directly to drug lords, helping to generate large profits. Relatively few of these guns are interdicted by border authorities. American gun manufacturers, supported by the National Rifle Association, are also beneficiaries of this illicit trade.
Our elected politicians have it within their power to mitigate this criminal cross-border trade. Laws and regulations promulgated to prevent the flow of weapons are possible. All that is needed is the political will and the power of the electorate to remove officials who ignore our corrosive fixation on guns.
After all, without guns, drug lords would be unable to maintain their stranglehold in Mexico. The control of gun proliferation would be a win-win for both countries.
Robert Leventhal, Silver Spring