The murder of two American citizens who crossed the border into Mexico ignited national outrage and led several lawmakers to call for Mexico’s notoriously violent drug cartels to be designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan warns that while the cartels are certainly deserving of firm-handed justice, U.S. military actions are not the answer. Due to Mexico’s growing importance to the U.S. economy, he says declaring war on the cartels would be a big mistake.

Excerpted from Peter’s Mar. 8 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

On March 7th, two of the four U.S. citizens kidnapped shortly after crossing the border into Mexico were found dead. This raises several questions, but perhaps the most significant is how this will change the United States’ policy on Mexican cartels.

The cartels have a long and deep-rooted history of flushing the American system with drugs, laundering money, and other illicit activities. However deserving of the designation as a terrorist group, we have seen in recent history how our actions on terrorist groups have played out; just look at Pakistan.

Any action taken against the cartels would ultimately damage American and Mexican relations. As the U.S. moves away from its ties with the Chinese, that’s the last thing anyone wants. It’s a tricky situation, and the solution isn’t black and white … but maybe everyone should lay off the white stuff for a while.