CNAS Video: CNAS Hosts Discussion on Drug Cartels and U.S. National Security

I attended this event, but I've to see if the interesting parts have been edited.  I will be sure to let you know if this is the case.  Right now, I'm posting this with the assumption this video contains all of what I personally observed and heard.

CNAS Hosts Discussion on Drug Cartels and U.S. National Security

Must Watch Video
~1 hr long

What will you take away from this video:

-You will see that the situation in Mexico is assessed to be an insurgency, a criminal insurgency.

-You will hear the US Department of State's perspectives regarding the situation in Mexico.  While State seems to agree on the study, they do not outright uneqivocally, call the situation in Mexico an insurgency.  However, I believe the representative stumbles on the words in the form of a "Freudian slip"...my personal opinion.

-The State rep also states the cartels are already here, there is therefore no such thing as "spillover".

-You will here different perspectives on how to counter the situation in Mexico, along with some reported successful examples.

Speakers: Thomas E. Ricks, Roberta S. Jacobson, Michael Shifter, Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown

Date: 10/05/2010

Media: Video

On September 30, 2010, CNAS hosted an event to launch Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels, and U.S. National Security, a groundbreaking CNAS report that surveys organized crime throughout the Western Hemisphere, analyzes the challenges it poses for the region and recommends the United States replace the "war on drugs" paradigm with comprehensive domestic and foreign policies to confront the interrelated challenges of drug trafficking and violence ranging from the Andean Ridge to American streets. At the event, the diverse panel of experts discussing this national security challenge included: Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution's 21st Century Defense Initiative; Roberta Jacobson, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs; Michael Shifter, President of the Inter-American Dialogue; and CNAS Fellows Col. Robert Killebrew (Ret.) and Thomas Ricks.