LOS MOCHIS, SINALOA - Three children and two women were killed after the driver of the car they were in tried to rush past a Mexican Army checkpoint in northern Sinaloa this morning. The driver apparently raced through a checkpoint where 20 soldiers were stationed. He ignored orders to pull over. The driver, father to the seven and two-year olds in the car, was shot in the arm. A four-year old was also in the car. Sources tell Reforma newspaper that guns and narcotics were found in the car; but Culiacán newspapers Noroeste and El Debate focus their coverage on the "massacre." Sources tell El Debate that the soldiers were intoxicated. The shooting happened near Badiraguato, home turf of Sinaloa crime boss Joaquín "Shorty" Guzmán. Few recent Mexican presidents have relied so heavily on the military to take on the druglords as Felipe Calderón. Shortly after he took office, he instilled pay raises for privates of 46 percent and promised 10,000 soldiers to help local police. Some analysts have applauded his determination; others see it as a heavy-handed approach that won't staunch the turf wars being waged throughout the country. The response from the bosses was to strike back at the military. In the past month, narco-traffickers broke the rules, targeting soldiers throughout the country. In one attack, five soldiers died last May. On May 1, a navy base commander was shot at more than 70 times. Somehow they missed him. His bodyguard died. In Sonora, Gov. Eduardo Bours and Senate leader Manlio Fabio Beltrones have both said the presence of more troops is not the answer. Bours has said that intelligence operatives are needed. This is not going to bode well for the president. Whether the car was loaded with dope and guns or no, the public relations scandal of the dead children and women (one was an elementary school teacher) will probably cause a public demand to temper the use of the troops. The Mexican Army is traditionally secretive yet respected. But respect borders fear. And you don't want a citizenry afraid of its law enforcement in a democracy.