During testimony on Capitol Hill, we heard Former ATF Special Agent in Charge William Newell admit he was in contact with White House National Security staffer Kevin O'Reilly about Operation Fast and Furious as early as September 2010. Newell also admitted that the DHS, IRS, DEA, ATF, ICE and the Obama Justice Department were all heavily involved and were full partners in coming up with the concept and execution of Operation Fast and Furious. Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama still deny authorizing the lethal program, despite President Obama specifically asking Holder to conduct a complete review (Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
AG Holder discussed "Project Gun Runner" in April 2009 in Mexico.
FR POSTED Friday, July 08, 2011 by Glock The Vote
SOURCE: DOJ release | April 2, 2009
US Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference CUERNAVACA, MEXICO ~ Thursday, April 2, 2009 Remarks as prepared for delivery.
ATTY GEN HOLDER: First, let me express my thanks to (Mexican) Attorney General Medina Mora and Secy of Government Gomez Mont for making this conference possible. This is my first trip to another country as Attorney General.
I wanted to come to Mexico to deliver a single message: We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this fight against the narcotics cartels. The United States shares responsibility for this problem and we will take responsibility by joining our Mexican counterparts in every step...
And, together, we will win – thanks in large part to the courage of my Mexican colleagues here today, who are on the front lines every day, and with whom I am proud to collaborate.
The topic that has been addressed over the past two days could not be more important – the development of an arms trafficking prosecution and enforcement strategy on both sides of the border.
I would like to thank the Mexican and U.S. experts who have worked so hard on this issue. On our side, Secretary Napolitano and I are committed to putting the resources in place to increase our attack on arms trafficking into Mexico.
Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels. My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion.
DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail. But as today’s conference has emphasized, the problem of arms trafficking will not be stopped at the border alone. Rather, as our experts emphasized, this is a problem that must be met as part of a comprehensive attack against the cartels – an attack in depth, on both sides of the border, that focuses on the leadership and assets of the cartel.
This is the type of full-bore, prosecution-driven approach that the U.S. Department of Justice took to dismantle La Cosa Nostra – once the most powerful organized crime group operating in the United States. With partners like those we have here today, I am confident that together, we will defeat these narcotics cartels in exactly the same way. I am proud to stand with you, and to join you in this fight.
Thank you again for inviting me here. ####
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REFERENCE America's Third War: Is the U.S. Arming Mexican Cartels?
FoxNews.com | May 31, 2011 | William La Jeunesse
FR Posted on Thursday, June 02, 2011 by neverdem
If you ever watch video or look at pictures of Mexican drug wars, you see some pretty heavy weapons. It is a war being waged with rockets and plastic explosives, not pea shooters and Saturday Night Specials.
Consider these incidents:- A M26A2 fragmentation grenade used against a U.S. Consulate in Mexico in 2008 - Explosive projectiles and 21 grenades found during a raid in Guadalupe - An unexploded grenade and pull ring used to attack a TV station in Monterrey - Automatic weapons, including U.S.-made M16s, found at a cartel crime scene in May 2009- U.S. military-issued ammunition found in a cartel raid in Reynosa in November 2008. You can't buy this stuff at a U.S. gun store. So where do the cartels get it?
According to leaked diplomatic cables, there are three sources.
1. US Defense Department shipments to Latin America, known and tracked by the US State Department as "foreign military sales."
2. Weapons ordered by the Mexican government, tracked by the State Department as "direct commercial sales."
3. Aging, but plentiful arsenals of military weapon stores in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Even though these facts were well-known by the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder, it blamed much of the violence in Mexico on US gun shops. "More than 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that line our border," President Obama said in February 2009.
That was contested, but few listened to gun store owners and former vets like Lynn Kartchner, owner of Allsafe Security, a gun shop in Douglas, Ariz...(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com
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REFERENCE----Is the U.S. Arming Mexican Cartels?
WHAT IS THE MERIDA INITIATIVE? The US Congress passed legislation in late June 2008 to provide Mexico with $400 million and Central American countries with $65 million that year alone, for the specific purpose of "fighting drug wars." The initiative was announced 22 Oct 2007 and signed into law June 30, 2008.
Thanks for the articles.