The Volokh Conspiracy

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War on Drugs

Future of Freedom Podcast on Proposals to Expand War on Drugs by Attacking Mexico

The podcast addresses recent GOP advocacy of military intervention to curb cross-border drug trafficking.

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The AT Network has posted a podcast (part of its Future of Freedom series) I participated in on "How Should the U.S. Respond to Mexican Cartels?" I made the case against proposals—currently in vogue with many GOP politicians—to expand the War on Drugs by sending US troops to attack cartels in Mexico. The first half of the podcast is an interview with Joshua Treviño of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, who is much more supportive of military intervention. I am having trouble embedding the podcast. But you can listen to it at this link.

I criticized proposals for anti-drug military intervention in Mexico in greater detail here. Both there and in the podcast, I recognize that some of the politicians advocating this may only be posturing or only supporting small-scale intervention with the approval of the Mexican government. But I worry that bloviation and small-scale intervention could expand when these limited efforts predictably fail.