A provision in the Secure the Border Act (HR 2) scheduled for a vote on the United States House of Representatives floor this week provides for a big step toward the US government going to war in Mexico.

Section 123 of the 213 page-long bill states that “Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on whether a Mexican drug cartel described in paragraph (2) meets the 10 criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization.” That referenced paragraph two then proceeds to list by name 11 “Mexican drug cartels.”

Should the report called for in the bill conclude that some or all of the listed groups are foreign terrorist organizations, the US will have taken a big step toward launching a war against up to 11 new organizations folded into the targets list of the US government’s global war on terror.

In an April 10 article I discussed the push by some Republican US House members and presidential candidates for war in Mexico. Expect Democratic politicians to be on board the war train too.

Notably, a US war promoted to the American people as against drug cartels in Mexico may turn into a broader war — one against the nation of Mexico as well. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has made it clear that he opposes US military action being taken in Mexico in the name of fighting drug cartels. “We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government’s armed forces intervene,” declared López Obrador in a March press conference.

Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.