Mexico has averaged at least 11,000 gun related deaths a year for five years at 1/3 the population of the US. Guns are illegal there. That would make the rate of gun deaths almost three times that of the US. Did I mention guns are not legal there?
Mexico's drug-war dead: 12,000 in 2011
The total number of dead matters less than public perception. Can we say the drug war's failed now?
Counts by Mexican news outlets said the death toll from the drug war in 2011 reached 12,000.
According to La Reforma, a major, respected daily, there were 12,359 deaths last year, which they say is a 6.3 percent increase from 2010. La Jornada, on the other hand, counted only, 11,890 deaths, which it said was a slight decrease from the year before.
Do those numbers really matter?
Not really. What's most important is the public perception — that the drug war has only gotten worse since President Felipe Calderon put the cartels in his crosshairs in 2006.
You could even argue that it has failed.
After five years, the fight has cost too much in blood and treasure — an estimated 50,000 dead over the entire period. That doesn't count the missing. Worse, Mexicans have very little to show for their sacrifice. |
