Don Winslow 'America's War On Drugs'

While searching for an opinion based article and after reading several vague and unexciting hooks off every article’s introduction I found Don Winslow’s “America’s war on drugs is empowering Mexico’s drug cartels” a must read. With Winslow’s dispute toward America and its leaders, his opinion of how mediocre their effort is toward the war on drugs is spot on. Although not anti-government Winslow stresses how the government’s insufficient interest in thoroughly dealing with the ongoing war on drugs compared to other conflicts in the Western hemisphere is helping the cartel thrive. However, although considered a war by many, including myself, Winslow sees it more than just a war but an act of terrorism with money being the ultimate goal. Needless

Providing the reader with an example of Pathos Winslow only continues this pattern with Logos and Ethos also in the picture. With Winslow a solid and credible author with his prior works supporting him, he aims to inspire change from the government with anyone willing to listen considered the anticipated audience. Although seemingly shaping the article around his personal opinion, he uses prior knowledge from his recent works and experience to shape his claim. Representing himself as not only an author, but also a seasoned researcher, his credibility is more than believable, which I can honestly say gains my trust. Despite that, Winslow shows various facts and evidence displaying his claim ranging from straightforward statistics to observations and interviews throughout the article. Nonetheless, what I found more intriguing was the fact that Winslow not only wrote about the war on drugs for 15 years, but that he personally observed it with several ride-alongs with the Border Patrol and various interviews with drug agents, users, and traffickers. However, although not only getting both sides of the story Winslow also stresses his personal desire for America’s leaders to “Stop America’s longest war” (4) due to the fact that “We can’t afford another year, never mind another 15” (4). With this in mind Winslow not only provides a personal motive but evokes a response or appeal to the reader, which he shows in his casual informal style of