Some see this as an escalation, but in fact it’s a declaration of intent to not just the Mexican authorities but American observers. The Cartels are using Islamist tactics and have been known to smuggle Muslim terrorists over the border. This bomb’s message is clear: war is coming to the border.

From the AP:

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – A drug cartel has used a car bomb for the first time in Mexico’s decades-long fight against traffickers, setting a deadly trap against federal police in a city across the border from Texas, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez said Friday.

Mayor Jose Reyes said federal police have confirmed to him that a car bomb was used in the attack that killed three people Thursday.

It was the first time a drug cartel has used a bomb to attack Mexican security forces, marking an escalation in the country’s already raging drug war.

Federal police and paramedics were lured to the scene by a phone call reporting that shots were fired at a major intersection and a municipal police officer lay wounded at a major intersection, Reyes told The Associated Press.

As the paramedics were working on the wounded man, a parked car exploded, he said.

This is a classic Al-Qaeda tactic and the cartels wanted us to notice it. The supposed police officer at the scene was found to be an impostor, who died in the blast. Was he a “martyr” for the Cartels?

But the similarities to Al-Qaeda bombings don’t end there:

Brig. Gen. Eduardo Zarate, the commander of the regional military zone, told reporters that up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of explosives might have been used, although investigators were still trying to determine what type.

He said the bomb might have been detonated remotely with a cell phone, adding that burned batteries connecting to a mobile phone were found at the scene.

“From what distance? We don’t know. But we think it was a distance that allowed (the assailants) to watch the area, waiting for the police to get out of their vehicle,” Zarate said.

Again, classic Islamist tactics. Graffiti warning of more car bombs has been spotted in the city.

Meanwhile Nuevo Laredo is under siege by cartel paramilitaries:

In the northeastern border city of Nuevo Laredo, meanwhile, a series of shootouts Friday prompted the U.S. Consulate to warn American citizens in the city to remain indoors. The consulate said drug traffickers were throwing up roadblocks in at least one major avenue and were carjacking vehicles.

“We have received credible reports of widespread violence occurring now between narcotics trafficking organizations and the Mexican Army in Nuevo Laredo. We have credible reports of grenades being used,” the consulate said in a statement. “We advise all U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo to remain indoors until the security situation improves.”

Army officials reached by phone in Nuevo Laredo declined to comment.

It’s clear Mexico has no ability to control this region. Border dwellers should prepare themselves for an influx of refugees fleeing the violence, and a creeping front line as cartels drive out the Mexican government and set their sites on the American border towns that are known to not have the support of our own increasingly powerless federal government.