I know we don't like the u.s. military and are salivating to see them lose, but I'm not convinced the cartels alone would pose * as * much of a problem as people seem to be implying here.
The u.s. would almost definitely take some hits and losses and be dealing with long-term guerilla warfare to be sure, but even with cia funding I don't think the cartels are a 100% even match for an actual military with jets and whatnot.
Pope Weegee