Posted on 06/26/2012 1:53:35 PM PDT by kathsua
Historian Tim Stanley in the "London Telegraph" suggests "The Fast and Furious scandal is turning into President Obama's Watergate". Stanley reminds everybody that President Richard Nixon was hurt by the ill advised cover up of the operation rather than by the second rate burglary itself.
A better comparison to a past scandal might be what is called the "Iran Contra" scandal. Both Iran Contra and Fast and Furious involved the United States helping groups in Latin American countries obtain weapons without the approval of the government of that country. In both cases drug money was used to purchase the weapons. The United States helped the Nicaraguan Contras obtain weapons to help the group overthrow what the Reagan Administration considered to be a communist government.
So far there is no evidence the United States wants the Mexican drug cartels it helped obtain weapons to overthrow the Mexican government. However, in the past U.S. policy was to restrict the ability of rebel groups from obtaining assistance if the U.S. supported a Latin America government and to allow or even encourage rebel groups to obtain assistance if the U.S. opposed that government. The 2,020 weapons purchased during Fast and Furious would have been enough to equip four battalions of troops.
The drug cartels continue to pose a major threat to the Mexican government. Obama's rifles continue to kill people.
Fast and Furious was conducted more like an operation to provide weapons to insurgents in another country than an operation to catch criminals. If the Obama administration had wanted to catch criminals it would have tried to keep the weapons under surveillance such as by implanting tracking devices and would have coordinated the operation with the Mexican government like the Bush administration had done in Operation Wide Receiver.
The U.S. Congress is currently investigating Fast and Furious. An international investigation by the Organization of American States or United Nations is needed because the operation involved the U.S. illegally aiding a criminal element in another country. Did the U.S. have an ulterior motive in helping the group? Were any of the U.S. officials involved taking money from the drug cartels obtaining the weapons? Did any U.S. official take an action that should be prosecuted before the World Court?
Watergate happened as I was beginning graduate school. I thought about doing a Master's Thesis on the subject until my adviser convinced me it wasn't practical to do a history thesis about an event that was still happening. One thing I remember from my research was that there was virtually no change in public opinion polls regarding how deeply people thought Nixon was involved in Watergate from early 1973 to early 1974 with most believing he was involved in some way. However, there was a change in how serious people thought Nixon's actions were.
Nixon's decision to invoke executive privilege to keep his White House tapes secret insured that some conversations would be interpreted as indicating involvement in Watergate. For example, a conversation with John Dean was interpreted as indicating Nixon's approval of Watergate even though the conversation didn't specifically refer to any such operation.
President Barack Obama's claim of executive privilege in the Fast and Furious operation strongly implies that he was directly involved in it. Obama is committing a major blunder if he is trying to protect Attorney General Eric Holder. If Holder has any loyalty to Obama, he should be willing to figuratively "fall on his sword" for his boss. Holder should have already taken personal responsibility for the misguided operation and resigned because as Attorney General he is responsible for what happens in his department. At the very least Fast and Furious indicates Holder failed to adequately supervise the department.
The timing of Obama's announcement of amnesty for children who grew up in the United States after being brought here illegally is suspicious. Obama's amnesty could be an attempt to distract people from the fact Obama's rifles continue to kill Mexican citizens. The decision could be an admission of guilt by Obama who wants to prevent children raised in the United States from being killed by Obama's rifles.
http://www.policeone.com/drug-interdiction-narcotics/articles/5729401-Chicago-drug-sales-fueled-by-Mexican-cartels/
Just making it easier to click
Any time a firearms-related thread is created on FreeRepublic, please be sure to add the "banglist" keyword to it so that interested FReepers don't miss it. Just a suggestion.
Let Freedom Ring,
Hmmmmmmmm - - - . Lemme see now - - - - , if the Obama Rifles need a Rebel leader to cross over into the USA on raiding parties - - - ? And AG Holder just might, could be let go from the Obama Administration after Holder gets his Contempt of Congress walking papers - - - - ?
Nahhhhhh! Holder would look silly in a Pancho Villa Costume.
However, Michael Moore might still make a fund-raiser movie out of it: “THE MASKED MARVEL OF MEXICO: Ricardo Holder of the Obama Rifles!”
In the instance with Nixon, the original crime was a second-rate burglary, and everything was domestic. With the now failing obama regime, the original crime was WAY more serious, the placement of really scary military assault rifles in the hands of violent criminal elements OUTSIDE the US jurisdiction, then purposely losing track of them, by failing to coordinate in any way with the Mexican authorities, never placing any sort of tracking devices on the weapons acquired, and preventing any follow-up action later.
The playbook could have been lifted from the strategy of the Nixon administration, by first denying anything had happened, then by letting little bits and pieces come out, nothing incriminating in and of itself, but leading to more questions and a widening of the probe, and finally claiming “executive privilege” when it suddenly appeared that WAY too much information was out there.
But now, it seems, the Mexican drug cartels have bitten the hand feeding them, and have not stopped with just the hand, but going after the gluteus maximus, in a very ungrateful way. The “Obama rifles” are being used to enforce the wedging open of the illegal drug trade gateways, a broad avenue of which was just opened up in Arizona. The Federal border agents, and ICE, have been ORDERED not to accept calls from law enforcement officers in the state of Arizona, whenever a questionable person unable to prove legitimate reason to be in Arizona is stopped by state or local authorities. In fact, the officer himself may face prosecution for “wrongfully” detaining ANYBODY, under another order from the Obama White Hut, that permits objections to be raised to otherwise lawful stops. Meanwhile, thousands and thousands of pounds of Mexican drugs are streaming through Arizona and to points throughout the rest of the US, Chicago included.
That’ll show Governor Jan Brewer what a bad idea it was to get in Obama’s face.
The Obama Rifle:
The curved barrel has two positions: downwards towards your foot, or 180 degrees right into your head.
One thing is certain - it never shoots straight.
Iran Contra was all about trying to prevent the spread of Communism throughout Latin America. The Democrats cut off funding to the Contras, since they predictably preferred the Communists, and Reagan had little choice but to go ahead with the Iran Contra operation. Otherwise, all of Latin America would have been taken over by Castro clones.
Fast and Furious, on the other hand, was all about supplying criminal drug running gangsters with weapons so they could kill more people, including Americans as well as Mexicans.
Reagan’s purpose was to keep the USSR from taking over this hemisphere. Obama’s purpose was to destroy the Second Amendment by covert action.
“Obama’s rifles continue to kill people.”
Yes. They do.
Someone called into Rush the other day and had a point that continues to resonate with me.
Why would any criminal drop a gun at the scene of a crime? It makes no sense. You purposefully leave evidence at a crime scene? Who would ever drop multiple guns by the 2 border patrol agent murder scenes? How about by the bodies of about 300 Mexicans?
Something doesn’t smell right.
Unless some of the guns were from people dead in the cross fire.
Puny-@$$ Bn's
Maybe the 123d Underground Messkit Repair Bn
After 18 months, with a special investigator of his own looking into it, Holder still hasn't found out who authorized F&F or the policy of "gun walking" which occurred in F&F, Castaway and other ATF operations on his watch. (so he says)
If a company manager had ordered employees to assist a ring of car thieves to steal company cars how long would it take the average CEO to find out that manager's name?
People drop guns when they get in firefights. Especially when they get shot and die. F&F guns have been found at the scene of 300 murders of Mexican citizens, police and Mexican federal agents. When the bad guys kill someone with an F&F walked gun and don’t get killed or even shot at they probably do take their guns with them. And no one knows that those murders were committed with F&F guns.
Better to leave the murder weapon at the scene than be caught with evidence that ties you directly to God knows how many killings. The cartels consider them a disposable cost of doing business.
Let’s be accurate here. They’re Obama Assault Rifles. Oh, and they’re black, so if you’re against them then you’re racist.
I wouldn't be surprised if undercover ATF agents were the ones pulling the triggers on those conveniently "dropped as evidence" weapons.
ATF Death Watch 151: Fast and Furious This
It doesn't have to be Mexico. Remember, the Obama crowd is vindictive, which Central American country gave him a big black eye early in his administration?
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