Posted on 07/15/2011 6:37:51 PM PDT by marktwain
A Washington Times editorial notes that Operation Fast and Furious was “too fast, too furious,” as the gunrunning scandal continues to widen.
It was bad enough that more than a half-dozen director-level law enforcement officials and an unknown number of supervisors and managers acquiesced to a plot that armed cartels with more than 2,000 weapons in ATF’s Phoenix Field Operations area. But saying that a combination of groupthink, stupidity, and institutional inertia is to blame for this fiasco is giving dozens of federal law enforcement officers across multiple agencies the benefit of the doubt that they are merely criminally incompetent.
The increasingly more plausible motivation: political appointees of the current administration concocted a scheme to destabilize a friendly government to restore the flagging anti-gun movement.
That scenario would have seemed paranoid just weeks ago, but new evidence appearing almost daily indicates that the “Fast and Furious” scandal based in Arizona may be just one part of a much wider campaign by multiple government agencies acting well beyond the law.
Recent developments indicate that in addition to Fast and Furious in Arizona, another gunrunning operation was headquartered in ATF’s Tampa Field Operations area. It allowed roughly 1,000 firearms to be smuggled to the ultra-violent MS-13 gang in Honduras.
Evidence also suggests that similar multi-agency programs exist in both the Houston and Dallas Field Operations areas covering all of Texas and Oklahoma.
Taken together, this suggests that we are not dealing with an isolated incident, but an ambitious and insidious attempt by the highest levels of a rogue government to reshape our world by any means necessary.
Katie Pavlich broke the story yesterday of a ”smoking gun” email between ATF officials: Mark R Chait, assistant director for field operations with the ATF, copied ATF deputy assistant director for field operations on an email to William Newell, the special agent in charge (SAC) of the Phoenix Field Division:
Bill – Can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same FfL and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a letter on long gun multiple sales.
Chait was asking Newell to use tracing data to support an initiative supported by the administration to require the reporting of multiple rifle sales.
If that sounds familiar, it should; this week, President Obama pushed an executive order — an end-run around Congress – stating the feds will now require the reporting of multiple rifle sales within a five-day period. That the office of the presidency lacks the constitutional authority to enact such a rule seems irrelevant to this administration, which is certain to see this edict challenged in court if the ATF attempts to enforce it.
Even more damning: the existence of more emails that confirm these same ATF officials and others were colluding to use the Operation “Fast and Furious” guns that they helped smuggle into Mexico as a pretext for the new reporting regulation.
Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Charles Grassley continue to unravel this plot. Along with the emails proving that the ATF was using “walked” guns to justify stricter gun laws, they sent a letter to embattled Attorney General Eric Holder asking the following:
1. Is there any other evidence suggesting that ATF of DOJ officials discussed how Operation Fast and Furious could be used to justify additional regulatory authorities for the ATF? IF so, are there any such indications prior to July 14, 2010?
2. Rather than collecting additional information on law-abiding gun owners, what steps have you taken to ensure that the ATF is better able to act on the information it already possesses to interdict the flow of firearms to criminals?
If most of the claims regarding this scandal are substantiated — and developing evidence certainly indicates a high likelihood of that happening — we face a watershed moment in American history.
Every component of federal law enforcement within the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security — and most likely with the knowledge of the Department of State — undertook a massive operation designed to facilitate the flow of thousands of weapons into the hands of some of the most vicious criminal organizations on Earth. These operations likely took place with the full knowledge of cabinet level officials, and possibly the White House. The weapons “walked” were used to gun down innocent men, women, and children, not to mention the brave police officers and soldiers in each nation trying to wage peace.
It demands a criminal investigation and the possible RICO prosecution of dozens of federal law enforcement officers, supervisors, senior management, political appointees, and possibly elected officials.
Our federal law enforcement apparatus became a criminal conspiracy. This was an assault on the democratic rule of law and the very essence of our republic.
Can you add me to the ping list on this.
“Our federal law enforcement apparatus became a criminal conspiracy.”
It is one thing to anticipate that some in law enforcement could be corrupted by the river of drug money that flows across our southern border.
I never would have thought that whole federal institutions would devote dozens of personnel to program motivated by ideological corruption that was designed to achieve an end run around legislative deliberations.
But then again, the debacle at Waco was a BATF operation that also involved the FBI and other agencies in what was originally an effort to have a positive impact on Congressional budget hearings.
We don’t have to connect many dots here to see that BATF is an agency with history of having a corrupt ‘corporate culture’ at the highest levels. We are seeing a living example of the self-willed Leviathan State, a dangerous parasite on our finances, our lives and our liberties. The people at the top of the present regime appear to be willing to kill Mexicans (and some Americans too) not for personal gain, but for ideological gain.
But this is what socialists do, that is when they think they can get away with it.
MestaMachine runs a gunwalker ping list. He can likely accommodate you.
Plain old fashioned , enemies plotting against Americans.
Nothing quite like like a credible government, for and by the people!
How long until we get one?
The left made many claims about the “excesses” of the Patriot Act yet I don't recall any reports of TSA groping and thievery during the last administration.
The same thing goes for “gun control” - loads of conspiracy conjectures under Bush ‘43 and actual conspiracy activity under Obama.
I guess the PDR term is “Projection” - something the left is very proficient at.
Cornerstone:
“If most of the claims regarding this scandal are substantiated — and developing evidence certainly indicates a high likelihood of that happening — we face a watershed moment in American history.
Every component of federal law enforcement within the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security — and most likely with the knowledge of the Department of State — undertook a massive operation designed to facilitate the flow of thousands of weapons into the hands of some of the most vicious criminal organizations on Earth. These operations likely took place with the full knowledge of cabinet level officials, and possibly the White House. The weapons “walked” were used to gun down innocent men, women, and children, not to mention the brave police officers and soldiers in each nation trying to wage peace.
It demands a criminal investigation and the possible RICO prosecution of dozens of federal law enforcement officers, supervisors, senior management, political appointees, and possibly elected officials.”
The bottom line: the Executive Branch President, State Department Secretary, Justice Department Secretary, FBI, BATFE, DHS and Border Patrol, DEA and ICE are all tangled up in a colossal taxpayer funded drug and gun running effort to coerce legal US licensed arm dealers to sell weapons to obviously illegal foreign buyers, at the behest of the US Government, to export the weapons to drug runners and illegal aliens from Mexico, funded by US tax dollars in their criminal enterprise, which guns and supplies are used to terrorize and kill American service men and women, and civilians, and mexican authorities....
The purpose to this outrage: to make a case to curtail the 2nd amendment of the US Constitution: that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The US government could not have screwed this up much worse but no doubt there will be more revealed.
The President, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Homeland Security appear to have some explaining to do, before they go to jail for gun running, smuggling, accessory to murder, racketeering, drug violations, federal firearms violations, Mexican law violations, etc. Plus there is that matter of a conspiracy to abridge the constitutional R2KBA of the American People.
This is pretty huge.
Don't forget the ATF "good old boys" Barbeque's from the 1990's with "No Ni%#ers allowed" signs posted at the front gate to the event. Wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't on video tape.
But this is what socialists do, that is when they think they can get away with it.
Exactly. They do this because the State is their "god" and anything that advances the power of the State is ethical in their minds.
Pragmatically, so long as this issue continues to keep/gain ink/bandwidth Sen. Grassley and Rep Issa will keep on “keepin’ on”, IMO. Regardless of how corrupt the players or how vital the issues are unless they remain on the front page they’ll “die in committee”.
Now I have two questions:
Has anyone banged a list of “walked guns” sorted by caliber/make/model against the “hit list” of evil arms declared by the anti-gun orgs ? If we see a strong correspondence, its evidence of the Obama Administration’s “working under the radar” claim.
Has anyone investigated to see if the “walked guns” might have been destinged for Mexican nationals as means of resisting the predations of the cartels ? >PS
Yeah....move over Robards.
Crime Inc knows that the best cover is to pretend to investigate the crime you are committing.
Add me, too!
Has anyone investigated to see if the “walked guns” might have been destinged for Mexican nationals as means of resisting the predations of the cartels ?
I have not seen a list yet. It appears that there were a lot of semi-auto AK type rifles, quite a few AR-15 types, a number of semi-auto pistol including the FiveSeven FNs, a few Barrett .50 caliber rifles.
I have not seen anything like a complete or definitive list.
Father in heaven, forgive me, but I have so much hatred for this evil bastard.
Not just 'ethical' in their minds....but 'holy'...
K.
When LBJ and Hoover killed JFK, that certaintly was true.
When Clinton covered up the ties to Iraqi terrorism in OKC in 1995, that certaintly was true.
Ditto in 1996 with the TWA 800 shootdown, Iraq was involved.
9/11? Clinton's lying prevented figuring out that Iraq was involved with that too.
Sandy Berger stuffing TOP SECRET SPECIAL CATAGORY doucments into his underwear? Gosh, you'd have to be a total idiot not to finally see the ties.
Now we have America wondering who was at the top of GUNWALKER?
It is of course obvious that only the Community Organizer himself could be stupid enough to try and pull this off but Americans will be satisfied if Holder gets pressure, not jail time as both he and Obama deserve.
Significant Jail time.
You mean ignore a crime in exchange for sticking to a pre-agreed upon debt limit and an act that has already been deemed unconstitutional?
No thanks.
You have been applying too much tinfoil.
LBJ was a slimeball, a crook, totally unscrupulous but he did not have JFK killed.
The fact that the president is trying to frame the American people is scary. What is more worrisome is why do they want to take our guns away. We all here know why, (the answer is found in the constitution itself) but most people would never think that there dear leader would mean them any harm. People better wake up.
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