Specifically, U.S. Border Patrol agents, and apparently a multitude of Mexican citizens! American citizens can be strip searched at our airports now, but don’t expect the government to secure our southern border or protect the men they employ to defend it. Let’s review…
Big Government gives us the skinny on Project Gunrunner, which has come to be known as Operation Fast and Furious:
"[Fast and Furious] was a project of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fireworks In late 2009, the ATF was alerted to suspicious buys at seven gun shops in the Phoenix area. Suspicious because the buyers paid cash, sometimes brought in paper bags. And they purchased classic “weapons of choice” used by Mexican drug traffickers – semi-automatic versions of military type rifles and pistols. According to news reports several gun shops wanted to stop the questionable sales, but Bureau encouraged them to continue.
ATF managers allegedly made a controversial decision: allow most of the weapons on the streets. The idea, they said, was to gather intelligence and see where the guns ended up. Insiders say it’s a dangerous tactic called letting the guns, “walk.” Yes, that’s right, the US government decided–in order to fight the Mexican Drug Cartels, we should arm them and let them keep their weapons once they were used in committing crimes.
The House Oversight Report includes testimony from four (ATF) agents offering firsthand accounts about the Operation Fast and Furious that allowed suspects to walk away with illegally purchased guns. Two of the approximately 2,000 guns that ATF let criminals walk away with were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010."
That’s right, this hair-brained scheme has already cost the life of at least one of our heroes.
The Washington Examiner shares the opinion of many, that Operation Fast and Furious should end the tenure of Eric Holder:
“…two questions beg to be asked about the exploding Fast and Furious scandal at the U.S. Department of Justice: What did Attorney General Eric Holder know and when did he know it concerning the underlying concept, operational protocols and legal status of the Operation Fast and Furious program in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau?
Those questions gained special relevance Wednesday when four ATF agents testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and squarely contradicted a Feb. 4, 2011, claim by a department spokesman that DOJ did not approve of the program that sanctioned the illegal sale here in America by legitimate gun dealers of assault weapons to representatives of Mexican drug cartels. The idea behind the program was that the hundreds of firearms thus sold would then be traced from specific crimes, thus enabling prosecutions of the individuals involved.”
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa took specific note of Eric Holder’s negligence in the dysfunction of this operation:
“Documents released by the Issa panel make it clear that Operation Fast and Furious was well-known and enthusiastically supported at the highest leveIs of ATF. That means the program had to have been supported elsewhere within the Justice Department. Thus, it is inconceivable that Holder did not know about Operation Fast and Furious. But even if he didn't know, he clearly should have. Either way, Wednesday's hearing provided the latest evidence that it's past time for Holder to go.”
CNSNews reports that Congressman Issa told them that “he believes the Justice Department is covering up information relevant to a congressional investigation of an operation in which the department knowingly allowed intermediaries of Mexican drug cartels to purchase guns at licensed firearms dealers in the United States and then get away without being arrested or the guns being retrieved.”
This was an assault by members of the Obama Administration to once again attack the Second Amendment by setting up a faux scenario in which American guns could be used by Mexican drug cartels to kill Americans. It backfired...just ask Agent Terry's family. This is criminal! It is past time for this Attorney General to GO…as well as the man that appointed this disgrace!
UPDATE: It's being reported that the scapegoated ATF Director is resigning over this scandal, when higher heads should roll over this travesty as well.
