Posted on 06/20/2011 12:05:02 PM PDT by neverdem
There's a war along the Mexican border all right, but it's not necessarily the one you're thinking of. In fact, this one has spread all the way to the halls of Congress.
This week, the Obama administration is expected to fire Kenneth Melson, the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- tossing him under the bus as a symbolic gesture to a congressional committee headed by Rep. Daryl Issa (R-Calif.).
Issa's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating an insane ATF operation -- a supposed sting that involved the deliberate funneling of thousands of weapons to ultra-violent Mexican drug cartels in 2009-10.
The op's name, "Fast and Furious," came from the series of movies about an undercover drag racer working for the FBI -- which gives you some idea of the lack of seriousness behind this cockamamie scam.
The Justice Department, which oversees the ATF, says the idea was to allow the sale of handguns, AK-47s and .50 caliber rifles to so-called "straw purchasers," who'd then pass them along to the cartels. In theory, ATF agents would then trace the extent of the smuggling networks in an effort to stop the illegal cross-border gun trade.
--snip--
Oops No. 2: The gangs used the weapons for what you'd expect. At least two American agents have been killed with Fast and Furious guns...
--snip--
In the meantime, ranchers have been shot and property trashed, and the lives of Border Patrol and ICE agents have been snuffed out in the line of duty.
The Issa hearings are just scratching the surface of a larger scandal -- Washington's consistent, bipartisan refusal to fulfill its constitutional duty to secure the country's borders.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Think about it for a moment. If you were running guns for a purpose(s) other than catching criminals would you want them easily traceable? I wouldn’t. In fact the purpose of F&F/gunwalker was to manufacture evidence with which to create new draconian gun laws here. Think back to Barry’s first year or so when the MSM was running all the stories about how US guns were flooding Mex and getting into the hands of drug cartels. That was propaganda on which to build more gun laws. There would come a point when Barry and the dems would have to act. The only fly in that ointment were the whistleblowers who blew the operation. When Barry spoke of working behind the scenes gun restriction this is what he was talking about. Our own govt conspired against us.
Certified letter sent to Obama directly by the whistleblower.
Don’t expect to see that reported.
What did it say?
My point still rings true.
The incompetence of this boggles the mind.
Did they not think they were traceable?
If untracability was their goal, they should have shot the gun dealers and all the case agents, all the people at the factory who made the weapons, and every intermediaries in between.
I’d bet $ that Frick and Frack (aka Holder and Obama) were both well aware of this operation.
Not traceable? you think they _wanted_ them traced?
No doubt the ATF is just about the defn of incompetent. That much isn’t in dispute. I believe they thought guns going over the border were beyond traceability. Once over the border they were ‘anonymous’. I think they felt nothing more was req’d once they went south so cleaning up in the states wouldn’t be necessary. In fact the majority of dealers live in fear of the ATF. The ATFs MO is to show up unannounced, confiscate the entire inventory and run the dealer out of money by continuing the case indefinitely. Who wants to go there? So no need to kill when intimidation is already working well.
A US Border Patrol agent was killed by AK47 bullets and the AKs used to kill him were dropped at the scene by the fleeing murderers. Those AKs were 'Fast And Furious' transported guns.
I suppose it's possible that those AKs weren't used in the slaying and that the murderers dropped them only because they wanted to flee the scene with the other AKs they brought which they DID use to kill the American citizen, but that sort of strains credulity, I think.
Since then, I've read that forensics determined that the bullets came from the AKs dropped at the scene, so this is all irrelevant.
The administration would love for us to believe that the decision was made all the way down at that level. I've known many GS-12s and 13s. There is no way they could make a decision like this. In the grand scheme of things, they're middle management at best.
That is what gave this story legs. One of the earliest articles on FR, February 3d, was about BP Agent Brian Terry being shot with a rifle allowed to "walk" across the border by BATFE.
Agent Terry’s Family May Sue the ATF Under the Federal Tort Claims ActWhat we do know is this: Brian Terry, a Border Patrol agent and U.S. Marine veteran, was murdered on American soil by foreign nationals using rifles that were illegally purchased a year ago by straw-man buyers at an Arizona gun store. We also know that ATF has been instructing U.S. dealers to proceed with the sale of guns to illegal straw purchasers, even after the dealers had specifically warned them that they appeared to be illegal. We know that two of these ‘monitored’ guns were recovered at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder.
I remember reading earlier this year that one US ICE agent was killed and one was injured ehwn they were ambushed inside Mexico with Fast and Furious guns.
So now we have a "twit" who "tweets" in the White House .... sweet! /s
The KG9 Kid, do you have a source? The NY Times says otherwise. I know it's the NY Times, but their style is to ignore inconvenient stories.
Justice Department Accused of ‘Reckless Technique’
Some of those agents blew the whistle to Congress this year after two such guns were found at the scene of the murder of the Border Patrol agent, Brian A. Terry. An official with knowledge of the investigation said that neither the bullet that killed Mr. Terry in December nor the casings found at the scene had been linked to the weapons that were recovered there.The official emphasized that “the murder weapon has not been discovered.”
I didn’t save a source for what I’ve read, but I read it here on FR where the source of that info came from. Washington Times seems to be the source I remember seeing.
Agree, the whole purpose was to shut down gun sales to US citizens...GG
Two rifles recovered at the scene of the shootout that cost Agent Brian Terry’s life were positively identified as guns allowed to cross the border under Fast&Furious. Are you seriously going to split hairs about what gun was the actual gun to fire the killing bullet? Give me a freakin’ break!
“Can’t get away with murder”
Sure you can. Ever hear of Vince Foster?
These hearings are a joke, just like all of the other hearings that we thought would surely bring down the Clinton regime.
I think the drug cartels left those "Gun Walker" firearms on purpose. I've read stories that they knew they were under surveillance. If the BATFE knew that the weapon that killed Border Patrol Agent Terry didn't originate with "Gun Walker," Gunrunner or "Fast and Furious," they would be screaming it from the mountaintops, IMHO.
Stune my beeber, it’s hugh and series!
Do you even remember Whitewater, Waco, Lewinsky, Vince Foster, ect?
The acting ATF director will resign, nothing more to see here, move along.
I am sure they would which makes it clear that it did.
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