Posted on 07/12/2011 5:16:06 AM PDT by marktwain
What looked at the outset like a tragically inept attempt to trace the firearms supply lines used by Mexican drug cartels has grown into something bigger. Congressmen who days ago were seeking the resignation of Kenneth Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, now are setting their sights higher, demanding that he not become the fall guy for other agencies’ mistakes.
Attorney General Eric Holder should get in front of this fast-unfolding story and provide a full account of the failures — or worse — that occurred in various branches of the Justice Department.
Melson’s agency was in charge of a border security operation code-named “Fast and Furious.” ATF agents were assigned to monitor straw purchasers of firearms in the United States — buyers who bought weapons for others. The idea was that the weapons would be traced as they made their way into the hands of members of Mexican drug cartels. The Mexican government long has complained that drug violence south of the border is fueled by a steady supply of firearms from the United States, although weapons stolen from or sold by Mexico’s own military and police also are clearly a factor.
Fast and Furious failed in every respect. ATF agents were told to look the other way as weapons were purchased illegally and crossed into Mexico. The ATF lost track of 1,700 of the 2,000 firearms obtained by the straw purchasers. Some of the guns turned up at crime scenes in the United States and Mexico, including the location of a firefight that ended with the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have been investigating Fast and Furious; they appeared to have Melson in their sights.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, Melson went to Congress to speak with Issa’s and Grassley’s staffs — accompanied not by an ATF or Justice Department lawyer, but by his personal attorney. Melson said that the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI had been tracking some of the same gun runners and other crime figures targeted by Fast and Furious, but had not informed the ATF. Issa and Grassley withdrew their call for Melson’s resignation, and they now seem intent on discovering whether the ATF and its acting director were hobbled by sister agencies’ refusal to share information and then set up to take the blame when things went wrong.
The Justice Department’s inspector general is conducting a probe, which might have been appropriate if questions were confined to an ATF operation. But now three Justice Department agencies are involved, and the inspector general is poorly equipped to act as referee. Holder should move the investigation outside his department to ensure a credible and impartial review.
Beyond that, Holder should address Melson’s central complaint — that information is not shared among his own department’s agencies that work to combat drug traffickers, secure the border and crack down on the illegal trade in firearms. The U.S. government supposedly has been attempting to improve cooperation among security and law enforcement agencies for a decade, but if Fast and Furious is any indication, the old battles over the flow of information continue.
The ATF must answer for Fast and Furious. The Senate, for its part, should move to confirm a permanent director for the agency. But the Justice Department also has some explaining to do; it oversees not only the ATF, but also other agencies that should be ATF’s partners. All must be held accountable for their performances, or the lack thereof.
He really blew a good shot at Juan here. Williams says that “they” (Issa, NRA, etc) “want Holder to be the fall guy” in this mess. He should have challenged Juan with the question, “Fall guy for WHO???”
They're just mouthing the "mistakes were made" talking points from the WH.
This wasn't a screwed up "sting operaion", it was a flat out attempt to manufacture evidence to back up the claims of an "iron river" of guns flowing into Mexico from the US, and justify more gun control legislation.
Wouldn't it be a gas if the replacement show for Beck featured panels of four Freepers and Bob Beckel or Juan Williams every day instead of the already over-exposed Fox regulars?
Freepers are way ahead of these highly-paid pundits....many of whom are no-way-near being as informed, verbally adept, quick on the uptake and deadly sharp as Freepers.
I'd actually pay Fox to be a panelist!
Leni
What is it with Hume, lately? He used to be such a tough questioner. I think “senior analyst” has actually made him reticent.
Absolutely agree and Zer0 was in this up to his eyeballs. I doubt he'll be touched by the investigation but hopefully they'll get his lapdog Holder.
It is called illegal arms trafficking,it is not a social experiment gone wrong,it is a major felony.
It is also a legitimat act of war against Mexico, as well as a violation of [our] treaty with them [Mexico].
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