For most Americans the war erupting along our southern border has elicited little more than passing comments. We feel insulated and secure because of the vast distance separating our lives from the widespread civil unrest that is escalating at an alarming rate. Nearly 25,000 Mexicans and Americans have been killed since the Mexican government's declared war on the drug cartels in 2006.

Despite receiving relatively scant coverage from the national media, the humanitarian crisis along our border actually does pose a very serious threat to our national security. It is inexplicable that same news conglomerates that seem obsessed and strangely eager to report every act of violence in the Middle East have remained nearly mute on the killing of hundreds of civilians every month along our southern border.

Understand that United States citizens have already been specifically targeted and executed when visiting Mexico . Recent cross border attacks in Texas and Arizona make it undeniable that the violence and bloodshed have already spilled over onto our soil. In fact, El Paso officials just reported that several bullets fired from Mexico struck the government center building located in the downtown business district.

Ciudad Juarez , located just across the Rio Grande River from El Paso, is the epicenter of the violence and coincidently my wife's childhood home. Her family has personally witnessed atrocities that have turned this once beautiful and tranquil border town into a killing zone ruled by street gangs and drug lords. Even the Mexican military has been unsuccessful in restoring peace and order and have effectively pulled back to protect the soldiers.

Several days ago, the drug gangs added car bombs to their list of devastating arsenal. This of course is the same murderous strategy the terrorists have used against our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq and should strike fear in the hearts of every American. After weeks of inflammatory rhetoric from both Mexican President Felipe Calderón and the White House administration scolding legitimate attempts to secure the border, in conjunction with deliberate disregard for border security; I believe that it is just a matter of time before the first Mexican drug gang car bomb is detonated or a night club is sprayed with machine gun fire in a Southwestern city. And if it happens in the Southwest, then it will most likely spread to other major U.S. cities, even in the Northeast.

Few politicians or candidates in the Northeast comprehend the ominous risk to our safety and security or can fathom the nightmare of being targeted by a murderous gang save one unique individual in Connecticut . His name is Rob Merkle and he is running for Congress in Connecticut 's 4th congressional district. Rob's father bravely prosecuted members of the Medellin drug cartel in the 1980's under President Ronald Reagan. During those harrowing years, Rob's family knew their lives were in grave peril and were continuously accompanied by armed guards to protect them from possible assassins.

Those experiences undoubtedly shaped Rob Merkle's stance on border security. Rob will not tolerate policies that endanger American lives or private property and he will unapologetically demand that this nation's border be properly and completely secured. He knows first hand that without border security there is no freedom. It is frightening that this same steadfastness is devoid in the majority of our representatives who falsely proclaim they have our interests at heart while they pander for votes. If they can no longer be trusted to guard our borders and protect our loved ones, then they cannot be trusted to defend the Constitution and uphold the rule of law.

Peter Raymond is the former Vice President of Safety and Security for an international cargo airline and Captain of a Boeing 747 (The Whale).