Another front beckons.

U.S. and Mexican officials describe the drug cartels as a widening narco-insurgency. The four major drug states average a total of 12 murders a day, characterized by ambushes, gun battles, executions and decapitated bodies left by the side of the road. In the villages and cities where the traffickers hold sway, daily life now takes place against a martial backdrop of round-the-clock patrols, pre-dawn raids and roadblocks manned by masked young soldiers.

Government:

"It can be traumatic to have the army in control of public security, but I am convinced that we don't have a better alternative."

Citizen:

"I always think it's better knowing that they are out there protecting us, that they are watching over us, when there is nobody else to do it."