Posted by
Steve on Wednesday, August 03, 2011 9:20:19 AM
Now that the debt limit debate is over, for now, we can get back to the more important issues. Probably the most important issue not being discussed is the program by ATF where they sold guns to Mexican drug cartels. This program was called, “Operation Fast and Furious”. They were supposed to track where these guns were going, but for about 80% of the guns that did not happen. Two of the guns were used to kill two US agents in Mexico. This program was a disaster from the start.
There were hearings on the program, until the debt limit increase became the most important issue. At the hearings it was discovered that about 1400 guns were sold to “straw” buyers in the US and then transported to Mexico and given to the drug cartels. That is enough weapons to arm a military division. A straw buyer is someone who is not the real buyer. They purchase the weapon for someone else. The straw buyer is usually legally able to purchase weapons, but not always.
The way the program worked was a buyer would come to a gun store. The store would identify the buyer as a problem. They would call ATF and tell them of the hazard. ATF would instruct the gun store to sell the guns to the buyer because they were going to track the guns to get the “big fish”. The gun store would sell the guns to the buyer and forward the id numbers to ATF. ATF would put the numbers into a file and forget about them, until they were investigating a murder.
During the hearings the chain of people that had to know of the program has risen to at least the Assistant Attorney General level. That is the person directly under Attorney General Eric Holder. It is highly unlikely that an Assistant Attorney General would authorize a program this big and ambitious and not tell his immediate supervisor, the Attorney General himself. It is also unlikely that the Attorney General authorized a program this ambitious without consulting with the White House and/or the State Department to determine where Mexico would be on the issue. In other words, we have not reached the top of the food chain on this program yet.
The people testifying to Congress received letters just prior to their testifying. These letters basically said that there were some things that could not be divulged to Congress. The Congressman that is heading the investigation is furious over this letter and is demanding to know everything. Right now, the people testifying are standing firm and not letting out any information that will implicate anyone in a position higher than their level. They cannot help but make mistakes and that is how we are piecing together the idea that the buck has to travel at least to the Assistant Attorney General. This is not the kind of program that the Assistant would approve without consulting with the Attorney General and people working with Mexico. The last sentence is speculation on my part, but I feel I am on pretty solid ground when I make the assertion.
Barack Obama made some comments in a speech 2009 that indicate that he knew of a program where the id numbers of guns were being tracked into Mexico. This program started in 2009. That would indicate that he at least knew of the program, if not authorized it. There is no confirmation on this point, however. This is the kind of thing where someone at a relatively high level will fall on their sword for their higher ups and protect them. That lets the real villains escape while we prosecute the little fish that is being a “good soldier”. I hope that the Congressional investigators do not let this kind of thing happen. I want them to track down the real culprit as people have died because of this decision. Since people died as a result of this program, the person or people responsible for planning and authorizing it should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, no matter how high it goes. I would say that no matter who was in the White House. This is an illegal program that has caused the life of American citizens and numerous Mexican citizens. Anyone responsible for planning or authorizing it should be prosecuted, period.