ATF agents: Border weapons operation a disaster

[Valin]

Business Week:

PETE YOST
6/16/11

Three federal firearms investigators told a House committee on Wednesday that they were repeatedly ordered to step aside while gun buyers in Arizona walked away with AK-47s and other high-powered weaponry headed for Mexican drug cartels in a risky U.S. law enforcement operation that went out of control.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said leaders of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were fully aware of the details of Operation Fast and Furious, which was designed to track small-time gun buyers up to major weapons traffickers along the Southwest border.

At a hearing before the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said hundreds of weapons destined for cartels in Mexico were purchased in Arizona gun shops. One agent, John Dodson, who took his complaints to Grassley's office, estimated that 1,800 guns in Fast and Furious were unaccounted for and about two-thirds are probably in Mexico.
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(Note: Audio not the best )

[Valin]

Hot Air: Gunwalker: The Fast and Furious scandal expands Update: Gun control lobby involved?

Jazz Shaw

6/20/11

 

UPDATE: Also at PJM, Bob Owens has yet another update. Was this a move to boost up the gun control lobby?

 

The obvious answer is that Gunwalker’s objective was never intended to be a “legitimate law enforcement interest.” Instead, it appears that ATF Acting Director Ken Melson and Department of Justice senior executives specifically created an operation that was designed from the outset to arm Mexican narco-terrorists and increase violence substantially along both sides of the Southwest border.

 

Success was measured not by the number of criminals being incarcerated, but by the number of weapons transiting the border and the violence those weapons caused. An ATF manager was “delighted” when Gunwalker guns started showing up at drug busts. It would be entirely consistent with this theory if DOJ communications reflected the approval of the ATF senior officials they were colluding with — but as we know, Holder’s Department of Justice refuses to cooperate.

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[Valin]

Issa Lays Down the Law to DOJ: We Are Investigating You

Katie Pavlich

6/20/11

 

The following video is from the House Oversight Committee hearing last week about Operation Fast and Furious and is worth watching.

 

(Snip)

 

In his opening statement, Weich said that the Justice Department had complied and cooperated with the Oversight Committee, adding the DOJ had provided information requested through subpoenas from Issa in his investigation. As you will see, Issa strongly disagreed, making it clear there has been no cooperation from the Obama Justice Department in this case.

 

(Click On Link For Video)