U.S. Republican Party presidential candidate Rick Perry says he would get the U.S. military involved in Mexico's war against drug cartels.

Perry, who is governor of the border state of Texas, said Saturday U.S. military involvement would be similar to helping Colombia deal with drug trafficking.

The U.S. military's work in Colombia has been as an adviser and for training.

Perry – a front-runner for the Republican nomination – said on a campaign stop in New Hampshire, “it may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and keep them off of our borders.”

In the past, Mexico has strongly opposed any U.S. military intervention on its soil. However, Mexico has received American financial aid in fighting the drug war.

More than 42,000 people have been killed in Mexico's ongoing drug battles since President Felipe Calderon began a crackdown on the drug cartels five years ago.