The warfare in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico is spiralling out of control:

Tony Garza, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, recently described a brutal gun battle that took place on July 28 in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, between "armed criminal groups," as having "included unusually advanced weapons." This since the combatants used an arsenal that combined automatic weapons, bazookas and hand grenades, in the attack on an apparent safe house of one drug cartel by those of another.

Actually, hundreds of different caliber shells were subsequently found at the war zone-like scene, along with AK-47 rifles, handguns and ski masks. And if that is not disturbing enough, a state policeman who asked not to be identified said that investigators found numerous photographs of municipal police officers at the residence, an apparent hit list of officials sentenced to death. Further intelligence revealed that each of the photographs listed the officer's name and assigned location, along with maps to their homes.

Officials are quick to call this a war between rival drug cartels, and they brazenly state that Americans are not targets of the violence. Yet U.S. Border Patrol agents are being fired upon, and U.S. border area police officials are witnessing Mexican paramilitary types escorting drug shipments north onto U.S. soil.

The targeting of law enforcement officials on both sides of the border, and specifically the planning and routine execution of Nuevo Laredo police officers and city officials shows that the specter of terrorism is hiding out in the open along our national border with Mexico, although not everyone sees this clearly.

Terrorists are ideologically, politically or issue oriented. They commonly work in small, well-organized groups or cells. They are sophisticated, skilled with weapons and attack strategies, and they possess efficient planning capabilities. And the differing types of terrorists pose national, international and paramilitary threats.

The attacks on Mexican and U.S. soil, along with the paramilitary sightings, should convince U.S. and Mexican officials, as well as the public at large, that these are terrorist attacks. Must there be suicide-homicide and related bombers to convince us that these are terrorist acts?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is probably "Yes."