The All-Volunteer Force Is in Crisis | Invading Mexico Is an Insane Idea | How to Survive a Devastating Earthquake, and more

Drug interdiction has not worked in Southeast Asia, in Afghanistan, in Andean South America. American demand and American wealth will summon supply from somewhere, and if one channel of commerce is stopped, another will open. The drug problem is located here, and the answer must be found here. Belligerent snarls and growls may excite American emotions, and they may win some American votes. But if those snarls and growls are acted upon, they will plunge the United States into troubles compared with which the fentanyl problem of today will seem the least of evils. Unfortunately, it’s too late to silence the threats. They have become the price of entry to Republican politics. But it’s not too late to challenge and rebut them—and to elect leaders who understand that Mexico will be either America’s partner or America’s disaster.

Invading Mexico Is an Insane Idea  (Anthony J. Constantini, The Critic)
Over the last few months, a policy proposal of sorts has picked up steam within the Republican Party, particularly amongst its nationalist wing: in order to stop the flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs from pouring over the US-Mexican border, the United States should undergo some sort of military campaign within Mexico. What such a campaign would look like is unclear. Proponents have been maddeningly unspecific, but the general contours would seem to involve declaring the cartels to be terrorist organizations and using the United States military to disrupt and destroy their operations within Mexico.
There are many problems with a U.S. invasion of Mexico, but the largest issue with an invasion is that it would simply fail. If Mexico is cleansed of cartels — an extremely unlikely, bordering on impossible scenario — the cartels will simply move to the south. What will America do then: occupy the rest of Latin America? For Mexico to truly be cleansed of the cartels, a prolonged occupation would be required. This is not Iraq, when there was an army to disband (which did not work anyway); we would have to kill most of them. Such violence, amidst an occupation, would certainly engender resistance. What happens when America’s soldiers are faced with fighting not only cartels, but ordinary Mexicans who simply want invaders out of their country?
There are simpler and less bloody ways of stopping the flow of drugs and waves of illegal immigration: the US could simply enforce its border. Donald Trump and the New Right rose in the wake of the War on Terror and the U.S. having fought what he called “ridiculous endless wars”. An invasion of Mexico would be ridiculous, endless and, of course, a war. This strategy deserves a rethink.

U.S. Recommends Americans Reconsider Traveling to China Due to Arbitrary Law Enforcement, Exit Bans  (AP / VOA News)
The U.S. recommended Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions.
No specific cases were cited, but the advisory came after a 78-year-old U.S. citizen was sentenced to life in prison on spying charges in May.
It also followed the passage last week of a sweeping Foreign Relations Law that threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China’s interests.
China also recently passed a broadly written counterespionage law that has sent a chill through the foreign business community, with offices being raided, as well as a law to sanction foreign critics.

Fixing the Stored Communications Act’s Secret Search Problem  (Jesse Lieberfeld and Neil Richards, Lawfare)
How does current digital search practice potentially violate Fourth Amendment protections? And how can the ECPA be mended to uphold essential digital civil liberties?

A Rare Domestic Resurgence of Malaria Is Circulating in the US (Maryn McKenna, Wired)
The mosquito-borne disease was eliminated here long ago. Now “revenge travel,” global migration, poor public funding—and maybe climate change—could help it come back.

How to Survive a Devastating Earthquake—and Firestorm (Cody Cassidy, Wired)
When a 7.9-magnitude quake struck San Francisco in 1906, it opened the gates of hell. You could have ridden it out, if you made all the right decisions.