Since the start of the second Trump administration the U.S. media has focussed its attention on American diplomacy in the Middle East and trade negotiations. Closer to home, a critical issue has been drifting toward disaster. Recently, in a call with Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum, President Trump suggested deploying United States army units to northern Mexico.
The goal, in Trump’s telling, would be to wage war on the cartels that are responsible for so much violence in Mexico and so much drug trafficking in the U.S. Sheinbaum rejected Trump’s idea, replying that, “We can collaborate, we can work together…We can share information, but we will never accept the presence of the United States army on our territory.” Ronald Johnson, Trump’s pick for ambassador to Mexico, told the Senate that “all cards are on the table” regarding possible American military strikes in Mexico.
While the U.S. government is right to take the cartel issue seriously, direct military action in Mexico is not the right policy. The most limited type of attack would be standalone airstrikes. American bombing campaigns in Afghanistan, Libya, and Yemen are good points of comparison here. In each case, the U.S. enjoyed total air superiority, yet American bombing failed to achieve meaningful strategic objectives.
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