More US Republicans favour deploying an army to Mexico, according to Politico

US Republicans are increasingly warming to the idea of waging war against Mexico’s powerful drug cartels. Former President Donald Trump is eager to send “special forces” south of the border to take out the cartels, according to Rolling Stone. Republican congressmen Dan Crenshaw and Mike Waltz are pushing legislation that would seek an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) targeting the cartels, accusing them of “turning Mexico into a failed narco-state.” The bill would “put us at war with the cartels,” Crenshaw boasted in a press release, insisting “we must start treating them like ISIS.” Waltz agreed that it was “time to go on offense” against the traffickers, echoing his colleague’s comparison to the banned terrorist group. The Biden administration has ruled out designating the Gulf Cartel, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel de Sinaloa, and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion as terrorist organizations, despite pressure from state attorneys general. A group of 20 Republican congressmen led by Texas Rep. Chip Roy last month introduced a bill that would designate the Gulf Cartel, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel de Sinaloa, and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” The push to invade the southern neighbor of the US has some unlikely detractors, including John Bolton, the hawkish former Trump national security adviser.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul is still evaluating the AUMF proposal and has concerns about the immigration implications and the bilateral relationship with Mexico. More than 70,000 Americans died in 2021 from overdoses on fentanyl and other synthetic opioids largely produced in Mexico, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.