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The Borderline Spectator
Arming the Cartels
Why was the U.S. government arming Mexican drug dealers?
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) program involving the sale of guns to intermediaries who would smuggle the weapons into Mexico has been “blown” (using the intelligence parlance for compromised). The congressional investigation of the project “Fast and Furious” produced considerable contradiction along with little hard information, while the White House aided the probe not at all.
When the story first broke, it was the size of the operation that attracted the most attention: 2,500 weapons — semi and fully automatic, as well as 34 powerful .50 caliber sniper rifles. The ATF spokesman said the movement of this vast armory through “straw” buyers was intended to identify Mexican drug cartel leaders and gun smuggling routes across the border into the United States. If this project actually expected to be successful, it would have had to have a very sophisticated method of tracking the weapons. It appears that the congressional committee did not inquire regarding that point and the ATF witnesses were not about to volunteer this highly classified information.
In reality, the entire activity was clearly implied as early as April 2009 during the meeting in Mexico City between both American and Mexican presidents. That much heralded session specifically noted American willingness to contain the north-south flow of guns through what was quoted as “gun tracing.” To underline this commitment, President Obama pointed out that he had marked $10 million for “gun control” in the February ‘09 stimulus package.
Whatever was to be the tracing method obviously had no control mechanisms. Weapons from the F&F project were found to be involved in crimes in four cities in Arizona and one in Texas, eventually totaling eleven crime scenes in the U.S. And these were in addition to the two weapons recovered after the killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. While such events may be considered “acceptable casualties” or “collateral damage” by ATF and Justice Department operational planners, field agents don’t enjoy such cavalier justifications.
Aside from the inconsistency of attempting to run a covert “gun walking” project where military-type gun sales are carefully monitored by local, state, and several federal agencies, the availability and distribution of 2,500 weapons clearly would draw attention. The question also arises as to why ATF needed a special project to track arms sales to cartels in the first place. Cartels have had numerous sources of weapons for years — including the Mexican army and police. U.S. programs to assist in arming the Mexican anti-drug forces have already inadvertently provided the drug cartels with considerable armament and equipment through illicit Mexican military resale.
Nobody wants to discuss it, but it appears there may have been other reasons to mount “Fast and Furious.” The ATF project may have been purposely aimed at arming certain Mexican drug elements in order to enable one chosen cartel operation to gain superiority over another. Why would the ATF have wanted to do that? There could be several explanations, but the one given to the congressional committee — to track arms sales — just does not pass the smell test.
According to the report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Carlos Canino, Acting ATF Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, referred to the F&F black gun running operation as “the perfect storm of idiocy.” Canino went on to say, “We armed the cartel.” Apparently he meant the several cartels that have been mentioned as sites where F&F weapons have been recovered (Sinaloa, La Familia, and the El Teo branch of the old Tijuana organization).
As illogical as intentional arming of Mexican drug cartels may appear, the possibility exists that some ranking officers in Justice and ATF perceived that those delivering such arms would become valued assets for the cartel leaders. This would have the potential of placing ATF agents in a trusted relationship with command personalities in drug trafficking. The cartels certainly had alternate sources for weapon acquisition, though with more difficulty and at a higher price. It would have been argued within the ATF — and even on the National Security Council Staff level — that the weapons they provided would not in themselves be something to which the chosen cartels did not already have access.
Such thinking is not far separated from the idea that certain cartels are preferable to others, e.g. because of an apparent willingness to avoid civilian deaths. It is important to remember that the Calderon administration has as its top priority the reduction in civilian deaths. Public safety has a political impact in Mexico. Shipping vast amounts of drugs north to the U.S. does not. Well-contained battling between cartels that results in the domination of key Mexican states by one cartel theoretically could provide a unified vehicle with which Mexico City could negotiate. This has occurred before. Was this also in the minds of the ATF planners?
Scott Stewart has made clear in his recent authoritative analysis for Stratfor that the cartels fear the potential of American intervention capability along the U.S.-Mexico border. Poorly thought-out efforts such as project “Fast & Furious” do nothing to maintain the cartels’ fears of American counteractions.
About the Author
George H. Wittman writes a weekly column on international affairs for The American Spectator online. He was the founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (74) | Leave a comment
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Michael Tomlinson| 8.26.11 @ 6:33AM
Why would the ATF have wanted to do that (arm narco-terrorists)? Because Eric Holder and Barack Obama are both morons and posterboys for the failure of affirmative action.
lily | 8.28.11 @ 6:53AM
I can come up with a dozen other movie titles that better describe this operation than F & F, but none better than " Dumb and Dumber ".I am a 28 years old doctor, mature and beautiful.and now I am seeking a good man who can give me real love , so i got a username Lindasunny2002 on--a'ge'l'es's'da'te.c óm--.it is the first and best club for y'ounger women and old'er men, or older women and y'ounger men,to int'eract with each other. Maybe you wanna ch'eck 'it out or tell your friends!
john| 8.28.11 @ 1:59PM
So BOB ,the battery operated boy friend, ran out of juice.
Timothy L. Pennell| 8.26.11 @ 7:54AM
How about this one?
They were letting these guns flow to the Drug Cartels, in the hope that, they would be used to kill Mexicans, and Americans. That's right. AMERICANS!
How many times have we heard this Lying POS, Muslim/Marxist C*CK S*CK*R, in the White House, say that: " Most of these guns that are being used in Mexico, are being BOUGHT in America".
Apparently, they were.
BY HIM!
All because Herr Obama wanted to use the inevitable results, of Drug Cartels with High Powered, Semi-Automatic Weapons, to push for MORE GUN CONTROL, here.
Kinda like HITLER, setting fire to the Reichstag, as a prelude to attacking Poland.
I'll say it, again:The LEFT has always been for Genocide. For Culling the Herd. MARX was all for getting rid of 300 Million of us, if he could. (And they tried!)
Robert Frost. The National Socialists in Germany. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. Margaret Sanger. (She just wanted to get rid of the BLACKS and the BROWNS, yet, somehow, she's a heroine to the Left. Interesting)
If a few people have to die? So be it. If a Hundred, or a Thousand, or a MILLION have to perish, so that the rest can reach the Promised Land of an All Powerful Centralized Government, Marxist Nirvana?
Those are Acceptable Losses.
What must be done, must be done.
By any means necessary.
He's gotta go.
By any means necessary.
Harry the Horrible| 8.26.11 @ 8:38AM
The purpose was to get more weapons actually purchased in American gun stores at Mexican crime scenes so that the Obama Regime could try to violate the Second Amendment.
Looks like its working, too.
Michael Tomlinson| 8.26.11 @ 10:19AM
Spot on!!! Because of Obama's and Holder's criminal actions there are Democrats saying we need gun control. What we need is Obama and Holder spending time in a Mexican prison. I bet they'd "look good" in panty hose and lip stick.
Occam's Tool| 8.28.11 @ 12:04AM
A simple solution: Wall, Moat, Meatchoppers backed by artillery and air support all along the Mexican border. Close German, European NATO bases and put our troops there. Use WMD in Iran and savagely smash the Taliban in AfPak with the nuclear annihilation of Iran as a warning to discourage the others.
Eliminate all school aid, state sponsored health care, etc. to Illegal aliens. Eliminate anchor babies. Clean out our prisons of illegals by kicking them out over Mexico City at 20,000 feet. (Give 'em a parachute they would have packed themselves) Stop annoying people with worthless security monitoring at airports---put Mecca and Medina up as hostages to good behavior, and put Federal Marshals on planes. Following the nuking of Teheran, this threat to the Holy Cities will be taken seriously.
This should solve many problems.
Occam's Tool| 8.28.11 @ 12:07AM
Note: this allows us to bring troops home, thus making the Paulbots happier, and it sets up the Americans as ultra bad hombres, thus impressing our allies, and intimidating the crap out of our enemies. It also teaches scum not to mess with our embassies, which shall be our rationale for nuking Teheran---that we have long memories, too.
TrueBlue| 8.29.11 @ 3:16PM
It also has the advantage of providing the Middle East with the world's largest parking lot.
Occam's Tool| 8.30.11 @ 3:25PM
Yet another benefit!
Allen West would do this, I think.
The Big E| 8.26.11 @ 4:00PM
Absolutely. They wanted those guns found a Mexican crime scenes and traced back to the US so they could then use them as an excuse to enact stricter gun control legislation.
Anybody with any common sense whatsoever would know that had to backfire. First, it depended on us never finding out the guns actually originated with the ATF. Second it assumed they would not show up at US crime scenes. Third, why in the world would a Mexican drug cartel buys guns in the US when they can get all the guns they want from the Mexican Army and Police Forces?
It was pure idiocy, and I suspect it was also highly illegal. The fact is that the people who dreamed up and approved this cockamamy scheme should be extradited to Mexico for prosecution. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that a few US laws were not broken along the way as well. Of course, the investigations that need to be done will never be done. The questions that need to be asked by the press will never be asked.
How the hell can we claim to be a nation of laws and not men if we do not prosecute the criminals involved in this mess?
TrueBlue| 8.29.11 @ 3:18PM
To hell with extraditing them. String them up here.
martin j smith| 8.26.11 @ 8:11AM
In my view the Obama administration wants to destroy our nation. Making our borders insecure and making it possible to state that going beyond a certain point is unsafe even within our borders SHOULD BE CRIMINAL. Again there
is not enough made of this and of course it realted to a political desire to change our voting population for a permanent SOCIALIST take over. D you get it ?
JimH| 8.26.11 @ 8:38AM
Our participation in NATO made sense once. It hasn’t for years. Mexican cartels have little to fear from us as long as we have so much of our military committed to chasing goat rapers around Kabul and defending Europe, Japan and Korea from threats they can deal with themselves. Secure our borders; go into Mexico as needed until the message is clear that we are not to be screwed with. Along with that I would also decriminalize most drugs to eliminate the incentive to dealing while having draconian penalties for selling them to minors.
Purple Lips| 8.26.11 @ 9:11AM
You ever see a fat Bavarian? They frighten the Czechs to death! We need to keep 100,000 troops in Germany in order to protect the Czech breweries. Besides, the Czechs now export more pilsners to the US than are consumed in all of Euroland.
NedB| 8.26.11 @ 10:01AM
The last time US forces were in Czechoslovakia, the 8th Air Force had recently paid a visit. They had leveled the brewery.
The locals were not happy to see the US Army right about then.
Occam's Tool| 8.28.11 @ 12:10AM
I wouldn't decriminalize most drugs---if you saw what I see daily you wouldn't either, Jim.
Louis Jenkins| 8.26.11 @ 8:40AM
Gunwalker, or Fast and Furious, is a diabolical plot to rid this nation of legal gun dealers. So what if a few hundred Mexicans get dusted in the meantime. Obama said that the majority of weapons in Mexico were supplied by US dealers, and by the Saints he was going to make sure they were. We say the total of weapons was 2,500, but I dare say it was many more. This is the number that the "officials" state, but they've been wrong before. And now the ATF wants special reports completed in border state gunshops if only two black guns are purchased!! The think-brains of this scam have been given promotions!! On and on goes this circus of gun deals and skull duggery! Thank goodness we have the resources-Sipsey Street Irregulars and Codrea's Gun Watch.
USMC Limey| 8.26.11 @ 11:21AM
Okay, here's my disambiguation spiel. "Project Gunwalker" is the large scale program started in 2005. It involved training Mexican Authorities in how to run traces on weapons in ATF's system and co-operating/sharing information with them, in itself it was a perfectly legitimate program. Then, in 2009, the Pheonix office initiated "Operation Fast and Furious". It was this program (spurred by pressure from the Attorney Generals office), that allowed the straw purchases and failed to track the weapons.
Why is it important to know the difference ? Because the libs love to point out that "Project Gunrunner" was started under Bush, but the problems didn't start until Holders DOJ started "Fast and Furious".
The Big E| 8.26.11 @ 4:04PM
Is your theory strictly a theory? Or do you have reason to know this for fact? It matters.
And by the way, for the record, if this cockamamy scheme was dreamed up by officials during the Bush years, then they should be prosecuted, too.
Foxfier | 8.27.11 @ 2:39PM
It's not a theory, it's an important distinction.
http://beerswithdemo.blogspot......rious.html
this blog has had really good coverage; initially, it wasn't know that "Fast and Furious" was the actual operation for smuggling guns.
You'll get a depressing number of posts if you click the "ATF" link at the bottom of his post, too.
TrueBlue| 8.29.11 @ 3:22PM
That's what Limey is trying to point out. That the illegal and ridiculously stupid part of Gunwalker, Operation Fast & Furious, was started under the Obama administration.
There were no gun sales going on under Gunwalker, it was an effort to assist Mexican law enforcement in tracing guns back to their source.
C. S. P. Schofield| 8.26.11 @ 9:12AM
I strongly suspect that the entire operation is based on a handful of half-baked notions, none of them very thoroughly thought out. The BATF is notorious for badly planned actions that failed to take reasonably expected consequences into account. While I consider Obama capable of almost any enormity, I hesitate to attribute to malice what is adequately explained by stupidity.
Michael Tomlinson| 8.26.11 @ 10:21AM
The Super Committee should abolish the ATF. Boneparte would agree with your thoughts on malice.
The Big E| 8.26.11 @ 4:06PM
I don't think this is adequately explained by stupidity. Especially in light of public statements Obama was making at the time about most of the guns in Mexico coming from the US.
That's just a little too neat. Chaos is the natural order of things. Neatness is always the result of planning.
TrueBlue| 8.29.11 @ 3:24PM
Kind of like the BP oil rig in the Gulf suddenly going up right after an inspection, and barely 2 weeks after Obama made a speech about opening up more drilling in US waters?
Negro X| 8.26.11 @ 9:16AM
All part of the obama/holder plan to destroy America from within.
Pecos Pete| 8.26.11 @ 9:20AM
Look, if the gubmint folks were smart they wouldn't be employees of the gubmint. The BATF is just one small part of the overall stupidity of the gubmint. Virtually everything the gubmint does now is totally off the wall stupid. They get away with this crap because the American people are blind, and in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
J.C.Eaton| 8.26.11 @ 2:17PM
This. The Federal government is essentially incompetent to do anything beyond fighting battles . Both the large, set-piece and anti-insurgent small scale ones. The rest of the stuff they do, from sophisticated border control, to large-scale international negotiation, from farm policy to inner-city policy from regulation of mines to regulation of water-filled ditches, and everything in between the government is just inept. And why shouldn't they be? They are buried layers deep in bureauocracy and b.s.. They are also, and more importantly, in many, many cases operating extraconstitutionally.
David W| 8.26.11 @ 9:27AM
this is nothing. I just heard on a local radio station that supposedly Mexico will be able to pursue drug cases in this country - sending their own people in. Surely I must have misheard that. If it is true, are we allowing foreign police to conduct business in this country - can they make an arrest and take the person back without extradition?
Man, I hope this isn't true. Or maybe this is something that Bush also allowed.
Michael Tomlinson| 8.26.11 @ 10:22AM
Never happened under Bush.
cowgirl| 8.26.11 @ 9:42AM
Somehow I believe this whole situation is going to backfire on Obama - no pun intended...
POST American| 8.26.11 @ 9:49AM
"We ARE using MASSIVE third world
immigration to DESTROY British culture
beyond repair, once and for all ---FOREVER."
-TONY BLAIR
Fmr PM/ Globalist/ Cultural EUGENIST/
--future EU President?
(Daily Mail interview)
---The Masonic 'Order Out of K-OZ' OP
holds here and worldwide.
-----World 'consolidation' (ie standardization
and cultural annihilation) at the service of
an elite long term agenda of TREASON and EUGENICS is the plan.
------Call us when you're ready to break out of your rectum worship
---and DENIAL.
Dan Mathewson| 8.26.11 @ 6:45PM
Is it a toll free number or a 1-900 number?
Tim| 8.27.11 @ 2:20PM
"Call us?"
Uh, nah.
Thomas| 8.26.11 @ 10:02AM
Operations Gunwalker and Fast & Furious may have had some evil motivation. But, if so, that motivation was largely checked by the Three Stooges handling of the operations.
Was there a Machiavellian scheme to influence certain Mexican drug cartels by supplying them with weapons to place moles within the organizations? It is possible. After all, the U.S. has engaged in far dumber schemes in the past. Was this an attempt to limit gun rights by ginning up the numbers of U.S. bought weapons that turn up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels? Again, it is possible. However, this was not a true clandestine operation. The purchases were all documented and the weapons tracked, at least as far as the border. All that these operations proved was that the existing checks worked.
So, exactly what was the motivation for these operations? Logic suggests that it was exactly what the original briefing documents for Operation Gunwalker stated; the identification of straw purchasers, their smuggling routes and the final destination of the weapons. This is the same type of operation that has been conducted in law enforcement circles for 100 years. Unfortunately, it was not being run and directed by the agents in the field, but by chair warmers in Washington. It all looked good on paper, so it continued; over the objections of the personnel in the field. The people in Washington may not even have known how many weapons were allowed to be sold. They probably didn't care, as long as the weapons were going to Mexico. It all looked good. They could tell the Congress and the people of the U.S. that they were doing "something" to stem the tide of weapons bought in the U.S. for delivery to Mexican drug lords. They could tell the Mexican government that they were actively identifying the people in the U.S. responsible for weapons smuggling. It was all good.
Until a Border Patrol agent named Brian Terry was shot and killed in a shootout with criminals in the Arizona desert, in which two weapons linked to Operations Gunwalker and Fast and Furious were recovered. The serial numbers of these weapons were given to the ATF to trace and it came to light that they were part of these cockamamie operations. The local ATF agents, incensed over the use of weapons, that should have been interdicted by their office, in the murder of a fellow Federal officer, blew the whistle. Now it is CYA time all the way up the line.
There is no evidence that these operations were anything more than they were reported to be, initially. Poorly conceived, planned and managed operations that completely ignored any potential catastrophic problems until it was too late to do anything about them.
I doubt that there was any Machiavellian plot to destroy, or even undermine, the United States in these operations. This was plain old-fashioned stupidity. Something that we have come to expect from our Federal government.
USMC Limey| 8.26.11 @ 11:31AM
Just keeping it honest - many of the guns weren't tracked past the door of the store, few (if any) were tracked as far as the border, and absolutely none were tracked to the "kingpins" in Mexico.
al gayda| 8.26.11 @ 10:07AM
oblamea armed the cartels ! that should be the headline on every paper in America
martin j smith| 8.26.11 @ 10:13AM
Its about the destruction of our nation. Its that simple.
Gary B| 8.26.11 @ 12:00PM
Yup...
Anthony| 8.26.11 @ 10:44AM
This scandal is 1000x worse than Watergate, however, the whores in the MSM are not interested in touching this because they know it would lead directly to the impeachment of Obozo, or worse, criminal charges, if we had an honest Justice Department.
Boarder agents killed and an assault on the 2nd Amendment all trumped up by Obozo and his stooge Holder.
This is huge, which is why the Justice Department has gone dark and no informaton is forthcoming. If Cong.Issa gets his teeth into this, Obozo is history, or better yet, behind bars.
Glad to see TAS on this, we need more conservative journalists to get to the bottom of this.
Gary B| 8.26.11 @ 11:59AM
The congressional F&F "investigation" will go nowhere.
Foxfier | 8.27.11 @ 2:46PM
There might be enough selected fall-guys trying to save their own skin to MAKE it go somewhere.
http://beerswithdemo.blogspot......nd_07.html
Especially since Fall Guy #1 was set up REALLY badly, but happened to talk to the right folks and testified in secret with his own lawyer, instead of the Justice Department's.
InLineFour| 8.26.11 @ 4:36PM
LOTS of stories on this by conservative journalists over at Human Events, and there has been for months. Surprising that there has been so little coverage here at TAS.
Anthony| 8.26.11 @ 9:05PM
Thanks, I need to visit Human Events ASAP.
Louis Jenkins| 8.26.11 @ 11:08AM
Dr. Mr. Anthony:
Ahhhemm! It's been on the electronic media since 12/10. This website has only had one other article on Fast and Furious, but at least its had two articles. Personally, it should have had many more.
__________________
Some of the field agents wanted to interdict the illegal transfer of the guns, and contacted their higher ups for persmission to do so. Unfortunately, they were not granted permission. The owners of the shops contacted the ATF about illegal purchases, in fact they were ready to deny them, however, the ATF interdicted and said go ahead and allow the sale. So who's doing the denial?
Anthony| 8.26.11 @ 2:47PM
Are you suggesting Mr. Jenkins that the MSM have taken this scandal seriously and are hunting down all leads on this, as they did with Watergate, the Bush TANG story, or the "outing" of Val Plame?
If so, I guesss I've missed MSNBC's, CNN's, ABC's, NBC's, ABC's, the NY Times', and the Wa Po's extensive coverage on this.
If what you say is true, you'd think we would have had 24/7 coverage of the congressional hearings and the demand by the MSM for impeachment hearings. (NOT!!!)
And wouldn't Holder have appointed the intrepid Patrick Fitzgerald as special prosecutor to investigate Holder and Obozo by now??
Surely, sir, you jest.
Louis Jenkins| 8.26.11 @ 5:04PM
Negative on the Mainstream Media Mr. Anthony. The MSM wouldn't touch the story as it reflects badly on their Commander n Thief. I'm only speaking of the third tier electronic media sites, or blogs. Now that's were you get the information. Unfortunately, the lower sites lack the clout, therefore there will be no super 24/7 coverage of Congressional hearings. You've got to look deeper to find the facts, almost on every Obama issue.
Bill Diebold| 8.26.11 @ 11:11AM
...why isn't abumer, holder, napolotano and all their little sock puppets on the terrorist watch list? They're arming the mexican killers for Gods sake?!?!
Gary B| 8.26.11 @ 11:58AM
Because our first affirmative action president is untouchable. Apparently, diversity includes tolerance of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Brian| 8.26.11 @ 11:16AM
And to think we actually have to pay to put this idiot government in place. Inefficiency, Ineffectiveness, now Treachery. I want my money back!
Ground Control| 8.26.11 @ 11:22AM
Don't underestimate the political advantage to be gained from such operations. The goal is clear: create a political "crisis" wherein it becomes "necessary" to declare the 2nd Amendment null and void, by Supreme Court ruling is possible, but by fiat is necessary. Manufactured incidents such as this ATF fiasco are nothing new.
2,000 years ago, during the Consulship of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Caius Julius Caesar, while off murdering Germanic tribespeople in Gaul, was paying Publius Clodius Pulcher to raise and operate gangs in the City of Rome. While ostensibly a "fire watch," these gangs actually were thugs who raped, robbed, and murdered innocent people, creating a "crisis" of crime and violence that Pompeius was unable to control. The intent was to create fear and tension in the Ciyt and have the populace clearly and squarely blame the administration of Pompeius for failing to control the violence. Of course, when Caesar returned, and Pompeius fled to Egypt, the violence miraculously stopped! Imagine that! All Hail Caesar! This was a manufactured problem, with a fake solution, but it worked and it helped soldify Caesar's power.
Don't believe for a minute that US politicians and their agents in the BATFE, are incapable of similar political calculations and machinations. The BATFE has for decades made it clear that if they had their way, no private citizen would be armed. So, "Gun Runner" and "Fast and Furious" make perfect sense given this mindset.
Gary B| 8.26.11 @ 11:54AM
As usual, the congressional F&F "investigation" will go nowhere.
The dumb ass schemes cooked up in DC never cease to amaze me, but the Obama administration, with its broad anti-American policies, takes the cake.
Strudwick Wickerwire| 8.26.11 @ 1:33PM
The oath taken by public officials -- to include the president -- is an oath to protect and defend the constitution and I presume to protect the folks!!! What's happened here is dereliction, warranting impeachment, if Obonehead knew about this mess and certainly isn't befitting a responsible presidential administration!!!
Mike McLamara| 8.26.11 @ 2:11PM
So you think the fully automatic weapons came from US gun dealers? And these weapons were a cheaper source for the cartels? Man, you need to get educated before you comment on something you obviously don't know much about. It just goes to show that the 'Chairman' doesn't always know when he's ignorant. Makes one wonder about the rest of what you're saying.
Simon Templar| 8.26.11 @ 3:41PM
Wittman, though I appreciate that you had the stones to at least cover this story, your article did not address the criminality and potential impeachable offenses that involve this administration and this program's ties to the white house and senior officials.
This is a huge story wrought with some severe criminality on the part of this government that makes Watergate look like a misdemeanor.
Dixie Pixie| 8.26.11 @ 4:30PM
Gentleman and Ladies, It is very simple.
Don't you remember that bizarre White House press announcement of Felipe Calderon and Obama, where the Mexican President denounced American gunrunning and Obama agreed with him!
The reason is simple.
The Mexican Federal Government having discovered that the Drug Cartels suborned the Police,
decided to use the Mexican Army especially the Mexican Special Forces to “take down” the Drug Cartels.
It worked, thus the then current Drug Cartels were drastically reduced.
Unfortunately, some units of the Mexican Army were suborned in turn and others just displaced the local drug lords.
As a result, the Drug Cartels gained the same serious military firepower as the Mexican Government.
Naturally the Mexican Government wanted to deflect criticism for the debacle by claiming the greatly increased firepower was due to guns bought in America.
It was not explained how European fully automatic weapons got to the Drug Cartels when the Europeans produced valid purchase orders from the Mexican Government.
That little fact was suppressed.
To make the lie work, the Mexican Government needed the cooperation of the US Government.
So at the top levels of the US, a deal was made to manufacture evidence of US gunrunning, thus “GunWalker” and “ Fast and Furious” .
The coverup is simply to protect POTUS, SecState and two Mexican Presidents from political harm.
purdeyboy| 8.26.11 @ 4:33PM
I highly doubt any fully auto weapons came from us gun stores. auto weapons are rare here and tightly controlled. why would mexicans buy them here when fully auto ak47s are about $100 on the world market versus 650 for a semi here. mexican cartels are evil but not stupid.
Louis Jenkins| 8.26.11 @ 5:09PM
You are 100% correct purdeyboy, fully auto AKs are cheaper on the world market and unavailable from the US, and it is a fact that the Mexican cartels get the majority of their weaponry from worldly sources, including the granade launchers.
Stan Redmond| 8.26.11 @ 7:21PM
"Under the Radar [gun control]"
---Barak Obama
bluecollarbytes| 8.26.11 @ 10:30PM
With billions at their disposal, the Cartels don't need to rely on handfuls of guns snuck across the border. Of course U.S. govt-supplied guns are always welcome. Fast And Loose actually succeeded in at least one of its goals.
The Cartels have steady access to weaponry through all their Mexican govt contacts- built up over many years. If they needed to, I have no doubt they would build their own gun factories. If the Afghan gunsmiths can build AKs under primitive conditions, the cartels could produce 'world class' guns for some hundreds of millions in pocket change.
POST American| 8.27.11 @ 12:04AM
-----------CUT TO THE CHASE!
----------------------------IT'S TREASON
Dan Mathewson| 8.28.11 @ 7:02PM
Can you back up your claim in a logical, coherent way?
mike| 8.27.11 @ 2:44PM
Looks like its working, too.
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mike| 8.27.11 @ 2:45PM
mexican cartels are evil but not stupid.
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Tony in Central PA| 8.27.11 @ 4:55PM
I can come up with a dozen other movie titles that better describe this operation than F & F, but none better than " Dumb and Dumber ".
Occam's Tool| 8.28.11 @ 12:13AM
You expect Obummer, who had to "agonize over" killing Osama (wrong decision---capture and torture and information extraction and THEN killing was the right decision) to be able to not piss on his shoes when faced with a mission that requires subtle maneuvering and finesse?
OregonBuzz| 8.28.11 @ 11:10AM
A plausible theory, but only a theory at best. The real reason for this stupid operation was to create the illusion that Americans and American gun dealers were shipping thousands of guns to Mexico (The River of Iron). This would lend support to more intrusive and draconian "gun control".
Fortunately, this operation was run by the current Administration which has proven itself inept at everything it touches.
In reality, the guns, ammunition, RPG's, etc. used by the cartels are being supplied through Honduras, Venezuela and numerous other Central and South American routes.
Face it, our current Socialist "leaders" cannot tolerate an armed society. No dictatorship ever has allowed its subjects the right to own or bear arms.
rongordo | 8.28.11 @ 11:21AM
A more likely reason for F&F is to re-write history. Obama, in an attempt to reign in assualt style weapon ownership in America, made the claim, along with Calderon, that automatic weapons were being purchaced at gun shows by cartell members, and used in crimes in Mexico. It was soon proven that the numbers were exagerated, and noted that gun shows don't deal fully auto weapons anyway. Soooo... F&F was enacted to make Obama's lies true, after the fact, hoping that no one would notice.
Louis Jenkins| 8.28.11 @ 4:15PM
And now the victors celebrate:
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 9:36 AM
Subject: Rifle Multiple Sale Reporting Program Celebration
Please join us on Wednesday, August 31, at 9:30 a.m., in Conference Room B to celebrate the successful completion of the rifle multiple sale reporting program. Collaboration among many directorates made this program possible, and REDACTED and I want to recognize and thank all the employees who contributed to our success.
This celebration will be held in connection with our EPS supervisors meeting to be held in the same room beginning at 10am. Please forward this invitation to all the remaining EPS supervisors in Martinsburg. I initially tried to list all their names, but I know I will leave some of the section supervisors out, and our celebration would not be complete without them. (REDACTED) and I look forward to seeing you all in Martinsburg.
These guys are celebrating their success!!
D Roamer | 8.28.11 @ 9:23PM
We have enough to impeach, the House could bring the indictment, but the Senate will not convict. Then we have Biden, "jumping out of the frying pan into the fire". Biden , Obama's insurance for impeachment. Just a thought.
shipley130| 8.28.11 @ 10:36PM
Does Jesse Ventura have a theory on F&F?
Occam's Tool| 8.30.11 @ 3:26PM
My assumption is that Obama is a traitor. Seen in this light, much of what he does makes perfect sense.
Phyllis | 11.23.11 @ 10:24AM
It appears 2 me the F&F Operation was 2 steps behind the intelligence of all the cartels. It was an ideal plan weaken by the need 2 survive of all the cartels. Fast & Furious was out witted by the Intelligence of the cartels. Now, they should be Furious & Fast?