Posted on 03/03/2011 9:36:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A federal operation that allowed weapons from the U.S. to pass into the hands of suspected gun smugglers so they could be traced to the higher echelons of Mexican drug cartels has lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which have been linked to crimes, including the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent in December.
The investigation, known as Operation Fast and Furious, was conducted even though U.S. authorities suspected that some of the weapons might be used in crimes, according to a variety of federal agents who voiced anguished objections to the operation.
Many of the weapons have spread across the most violence-torn states in Mexico, with at least 195 linked to some form of crime or law enforcement action, according to documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity and The Times.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the operation, said that 1,765 guns were sold to suspected smugglers during a 15-month period of the investigation. Of those, 797 were recovered on both sides of the border, including 195 in Mexico after they were used in crimes, collected during arrests or intercepted through other law enforcement operations.
John Dodson, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who worked on Operation Fast and Furious, said in an interview with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit research group based in Washington, that he was still haunted by his participation in the investigation.
"With the number of guns we let walk, we'll never know how many people were killed, raped, robbed," he said. "There is nothing we can do to round up those guns. They are gone."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Today, the Dallas Morning News and now the LA Times. It appears that the story is spreading.
The Feds are willing to arm the narcos more than our boys guarding the border. Makes you wonder.
When will the investigation begin into who in our own government was paid off?
You just know that somebody got a bonus and a promotion for this ****ed-up idea.
“What did the President know and when did he know it?”
CBS News March 3 as well:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml
It’s about damned time the LAT got something of this magnitude right. I am HIGHLY surprised (but very pleasantly so!!!)!
They must have found a way to blame it on Bush or the GOP.
Obama apologized (again) recently to Mexico’s leader saying he was “constrained by the 2nd Amendment.”
So they want to let the guns cross the border, have murder and mayhem down there... CRISIS! Never let a crisis go to waste. We have an international duty to stop gun sales in the U.S.
Create the crisis and then take advantage of it to suit whatever political ends.
Anyone remember Iran/Contra? Start up some Congressional hearings on the Obama administration officials that came up with this plan to let these weapons end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartel murderers.
How were they going to “trace the weapons”???? Seriously. They had GPS locators on them? Insanity.
hmmmmm - so all the vilification of the USA Second Amendment for being the cause of the guns in Mexico, and now we have the truth - it wasn't guns from run-of-the-mill gun shows in Arizona or any place else nor was it run-of-the-mill citizens - it was the Feds themselves. my my my I'd say it's time for Napolitano and Holder to step the hell down. As in, resign today - now.
Lets not get our hopes up too high.
45 minutes ago, CBS radio news at the top of the hour was back on their old familiar line - about the “ problem with American guns in Mexico “. No mention of ATF, of course.
Starting to get some traction. Of course Holder will do nothing.
With the number of guns we let walk, we'll never know how many people were killed, raped, robbed," he said. "There is nothing we can do to round up those guns. They are gone." With the number of guns we let walk, we'll never know how many people were killed, raped, robbed," he said. "There is nothing we can do to round up those guns. They are gone."Eric Holder, call your lawyer.
I really hope this becomes a big story and the RIGHT people are brought to Justice. I don’t have much hope in that, but I really wish it would happen. Justice is suppose to be blind.
The dissent prompted a harsh e-mail last March from the ATF's group supervisor in charge of the day-to-day operations, David J. Voth, warning agents to stay on board.
"Whether you care or not, people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case, and they also believe we … are doing what they envisioned the Southwest Border Groups doing," he wrote.
"I will be damned if this case is going to suffer due to petty arguing, rumors or other adolescent behavior," he added. "This is the pinnacle of domestic U.S. law enforcement techniques. …Maybe the Maricopa County Jail is hiring detention officers and you can get paid $30,000 (instead of $100,000) to serve lunch to inmates all day."
If tracked back. It will lead to administration propaganda operations and collusion with some in the MSM.
This needs to be tracked back. All the way up.
Who the hell would authorize such a program?
The feds pulled off straw purchases here in order to track the firearms in Mexico. What the hell were they thinking? Did anyone think this through?
In the middle of all this, the media and their party trot out all kinds of stories about legal firearms dealers who are supposedly arming the narco armies.
These idealoges are playing games here and good people are getting killed as a result.
Just another Democrat/Media propaganda scam. Anti-gun.
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