Whack-a-mole: Tensions, drug war highlight Obama-Calderon meeting

"Expert" number one says, 'A lot of us are scratching our heads and asking what is going on. Things were going so well.'...  What universe is he living in? Expert number two acknowledges the futility of it all.

Tensions, drug war highlight Obama-Calderon meeting | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "'At some point it becomes deeply frustrating on both sides,' said Eric Olson, a security analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., where Calderon also will meet today with select members of the public. 'A lot of us are scratching our heads and asking what is going on. Things were going so well.'...

Despite the various irritations, analysts said, today's presidential chats are unlikely to produce any fireworks, at least in public. The U.S.-Mexico relationship, and the crime crackdown, is too important for both governments.

Rather, the meetings will entail "maybe some private venting and air-clearing, public solidarity and recommitment," predicted John Bailey, an expert on Mexican national security issues at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

"Sounds like the same agenda: do more about reducing drug consumption and arms trafficking," Bailey said. "Obama can't do much about either. But he can help Calderon's political standing in Mexico.""