This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Battle of Rio Grande was formally joined Wednesday as Gov. Gary Herbert appeared with his War Cabinet to proclaim that this shall not stand.

Herbert stood with House Speaker Greg Hughes, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and, newly named as the overseer of the renewed efforts to rid the neighborhood near the city's main homeless shelters of the squalor of crime, drugs and despair, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.

That's unquestionably the good news. State, county and city. Republican and Democrat. Political operators and policy wonks. All without a hint of the kind of blame-shifting and finger-pointing that often accompany, and doom, such complex, multi-jurisdiction operations.

Even better, there were suggestions that all involved understand that, to really be able to claim success, they will be required not only to win the war but to win the peace.

Promises to be more aggressive in enforcing the law, arresting drug dealers, opening up jail cells for the pushers and treatment beds for their victims, are all part of any reasonable attempt to at once clean up the neighborhood and separate the wolves from the lost lambs.

This is counterinsurgency. Clear, hold, build. Don't stage raids during the day and retreat to your bases at night. Get involved in the lives of the people on the ground, find out what they need, turn enemies into friends where you can, neutralize them when you can't. Provide jobs, public services, health care, education. Make it worth the while of the homeless to turn their backs on the dealers or, better, turn them in.

There is one point, though, on which the war metaphor fails. Interdiction, a new war on drugs, cutting off the supply of controlled and harmful substances. That never works.

It should be clear, especially to the free market-worshipping Utah Republicans involved, that supply always follows demand.

So, to not only clean up the Rio Grande neighborhood now, but to keep it clean enough that Herbert can fulfill his goal of playing tennis in Pioneer Park next year, all the levels and agencies and funders involved must fully buy into the notion that they are there for the long haul. That expanded, expensive, services for the homeless and those who would otherwise become homeless need to be stepped up and maintained.

This is nation-building. A long slog. The war won't be over by Christmas. But there is reason to hope that, eventually, there will be success.