Oh, Mexico

I'm seeing in the news aggregates this little piece that says that the Defense Department considers Mexico a candidate for collapse.

Mexico is one of two countries that “bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse,” according to a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats.

The command’s “Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)” report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico. “In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico.

“The Mexican possibility may seem less likely, but the government, its politicians, police and judicial infrastructure are all under sustained assault and press by criminal gangs and drug cartels. How that internal conflict turns out over the next several years will have a major impact on the stability of the Mexican state. Any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone.”

That's a hell of a note.

Let me say for the record that when I've been in Mexico, the last time in Nuevo Laredo during the summer of '06, I was treated with courtesy, respect, and dignity while I was there. However, on the way home we stopped at a border checkpoint about 10 miles from Laredo and customs officers warned us that the border was getting more dangerous.

Comparing Mexico to Pakistan is pretty harsh, but those guys generally know what they're talking about. I see in an update to an article linked above that the Mexican government is sending fresh troops to Juarez.

We really need to think more about building that fence.