Mexico Responds to Bill Barr on Drug Cartels

In December 2020, then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued a statement recognizing the need for international cooperation to fight transnational crime. Now he calls for “a far more aggressive American effort inside Mexico,” with or without our consent (“The U.S. Must Defeat Mexico’s Cartels,” op-ed, March 3).

In her book “The March of Folly,” Barbara Tuchman explores the paradox of why governments pursue policies that are against their own interests. Describing the U.S. war in Vietnam, Tuchman’s thesis is particularly enlightening. Overreacting when protecting “vital interests” has led to the squandering of U.S. resources in a grand folly of disproportion and under the illusion of omnipotence. Mr. Barr, in his op-ed, is now perpetuating this illogical rationale.