Baghdad, Mexico

In October, the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez logged 352 murders.   Those numbers are reminiscent of the bad old days of Baghdad in 2006 to 2007.  Baghdad has a population of roughly 7.4-million.   Juarez, Mexico's fifth largest city, has approximately 2-million residents.

14-young people, age 13 to 30, were gunned down at a birthday party.  Overall, 48 of the dead were women - housewives, police officers, students, young girls.   The year to date has claimed 272 female victims.

While October sets a record for Juarez, it's a record that's been steadily climbing all year.  Juarez is situated just across the border from El Paso, Texas astride one of the major drug-smuggling routes into the U.S.

How is it we're quite content to spend a decade banging away at Afghans on the other side of the world but we can't make the same effort for a neighbouring country beset by drug cartel violence?