The book is written from the viewpoint of an American Anthropologist, who has extensive contacts on both sides of the El Paso/Juarez border. Initially a slow read, the book picks up pace when the interviews begin. The strength of the book is in the various interviews the author has with both sides of the aisle: narco-trafficers, dealers, police, informants, border agents. The best stories are the ones that have been lived by the teller – some are funny, and some are downright scary. At times the author seems to let the teller give too much background or extraneous information that clouds the narrative. Some tellers leave you wanting more information, while others seem to languish or even repeat themselves. Not much is given in the way for solution to the drug war: only one story from a former border patrol agent who now believes the war is futile,
As others have pointed out, ”the author clearly defines all of the unfamiliar terms used in the interviews, but the inclusion of a glossary of key words and phrases would have been useful. More maps and pictures would have helped as well.
Campbell writes, at the time his book went to press, more that 1,600 killings had been reported in Ciudad Juarez in 2008, making in the bloodiest year in the city's recorded history. Sadly, this record no longer stands, as 2009 saw more than 2,500 killings. Drug War Zone is a valuable attempt to understand the causes and consequences of these statistics.”
1 comment:
there's a way to finish once and for all the "War On Drug" with an idea that has been brewing in my mind since 1971 when growing up in Colombia I saw a mass short term migration of many foreigners living there for the only purpose of getting high and talking to a few of them i found out that in their minds our culture was base solely in the growing of illegal drugs, my way to end it all since then is to form an International Military Coalition with full Armies and since this is a war to be tried in Military tribunes where the crimes that were committed by this drug lords and their "compadres" be categorized as war crimes where death by hanging or firing squad can be imposed in the guilty parties, this will send the biggest and more strong message to those wanting to become "PABLITOS" (as in Pablo Escobar as many kids want to be in Colombia) or any other big time drug trafficker they will want to be like.
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