War without end

My friend Art Benavie has a splendid column in today's Durham Herald.

On March 24, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano disclosed that the US military "has been working with the Mexican military in efforts against the drug cartels."

Are we slipping into a third war? If so, we are courting disaster.

Felipe Calderon, who became president of Mexico in December 2006, has deployed 50,000 soldiers and federal police in the fight against mob-controlled drug cartels The result has been a skyrocketing death toll in Mexico, with more than 22,000 drug-related deaths in the past three and a half years; most Mexicans feel the government is losing the war.

The cartels make astronomical profits -- for example, a kilo of cocaine purchased in Colombia costs about $4,500, but on the streets of the United States it sells for between $200,000 and $600,000. How can law enforcement or even an army eliminate an activity with a tax-free profit that big?