Any thoughts on this, if you can be torn away from the 24,7 news..............http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/friend-news/2745149/posts....
Federal officials are pointing fingers at one another over a ludicrous plan to infiltrate Mexican drug smuggling groups that went totally awry. Under Operation Fast and Furious, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau allowed top Mexican drug dealers to purchase weapons, hoping to trace them back to kingpins. They lost track of these weapons, some of which were later found at the scene of violent crimes. The ATF’s chief is blaming the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration for not notifying it adequately of the armed dealers who happened to be informants of the latter two agencies. So we have two federal law enforcement organizations keeping poor tabs on drug dealers with whom they’re in cahoots and another U.S. law enforcement organization allowing these people to get weapons in a totally misguided attempt to find and stop criminal higher ups.
Of course, this only scratches the surface. Under Obama, U.S. financing of the Mexican drug warriors has reached record heights. Obama asked for $15 billion last year—far, far more than was spent under the Bush administration. And it is this overt activity, along with domestic drug war enforcement, far more than the ATF’s covert shenanigans, that is the real problem.
In the last five years, over 37,000 have died in Mexico’s drug violence. And many Mexicans recognize the ultimate cause: Drug prohibition. It was not a big news story in the United States, but a few months ago thousands of Mexicans took to the streets protesting the drug policy being enforced by Mexican authorities and sponsored, actually imposed, by Washington, DC.
I believe there was more sinister motivations behind this little debacle. The Obama administration is heavily anti-gun, and would love to get some strong gun control measures put in place, but it doesn't have the support from the public and thus the congress to get it done. So they came up with this little scheme hoping to help increase the number of U.S. originated weapons into the hands of drug cartel thugs in hopes they could then come back and say "See, we need more gun control otherwise this is just going to get worse!" Its just an attempt to worsen a problem to push ahead a political agenda, and this isn't the first time the Obama administration has done this. Whoever is connected to this program in the upper ranks of the ATF need to be charged with an accessory to murder considering two U.S. agents were killed by these weapons. Now is a good time to put out the message that putting Americans directly at risk to push a domestic political agenda is not tolerated.
To help combat firearms trafficking into Mexico, ATF began Project
Gunrunner as a pilot project in Laredo, Texas, in 2005 and expanded it as a
national initiative in 2006. Project Gunrunner is also part of the
Department’s broader Southwest Border Initiative, which seeks to reduce
cross-border drug and firearms trafficking and the high level of violence
associated with these activities on both sides of the border.
In June 2007, ATF published a strategy document, Southwest Border
Initiative: Project Gunrunner (Gunrunner strategy), outlining four key
components to Project Gunrunner.........
I believe there was more sinister motivations behind this little debacle. The Obama administration is heavily anti-gun, and would love to get some strong gun control measures put in place, but it doesn't have the support from the public and thus the congress to get it done. So they came up with this little scheme hoping to help increase the number of U.S. originated weapons into the hands of drug cartel thugs in hopes they could then come back and say "See, we need more gun control otherwise this is just going to get worse!" Its just an attempt to worsen a problem to push ahead a political agenda, and this isn't the first time the Obama administration has done this. Whoever is connected to this program in the upper ranks of the ATF need to be charged with an accessory to murder considering two U.S. agents were killed by these weapons. Now is a good time to put out the message that putting Americans directly at risk to push a domestic political agenda is not tolerated.
To help combat firearms trafficking into Mexico, ATF began Project
Gunrunner as a pilot project in Laredo, Texas, in 2005 and expanded it as a
national initiative in 2006. Project Gunrunner is also part of the
Department’s broader Southwest Border Initiative, which seeks to reduce
cross-border drug and firearms trafficking and the high level of violence
associated with these activities on both sides of the border.
In June 2007, ATF published a strategy document, Southwest Border
Initiative: Project Gunrunner (Gunrunner strategy), outlining four key
components to Project Gunrunner.........
I'm certain that programs like these are floated all the time by different government agencies. Especially those involved in law enforcement. It is the administration's perogative whether to fund it or not. The stimulus law signed by president Obama in 2009 included $10 million in funding for the fast and furious program telling me it was a priority of this administration by which I am not totally surprised.
WORKING DRAFT
U.S. Department of Justice 5
Office of the Inspector General
Evaluation and Inspections Division
WORKING DRAFT
Project Gunrunner Budget
Initially, Project Gunrunner had no dedicated funding within ATF’s
budget. As ATF expanded the initiative in response to the increased
violence in Mexico and concern over firearms trafficking into Mexico, ATF
began seeking dedicated funds for Project Gunrunner, starting with its
FY 2008 budget request. In FY 2009, ATF received $21.9 million to support
and expand Project Gunrunner, which included $5.9 million in ATF’s
FY 2009 appropriation for Project Gunrunner and $10 million in the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Under
Public Law No. 111-230 (2010), Emergency Border Security Supplemental
Appropriations, ATF received an additional $37.5 million for the continued
expansion of Project Gunrunner in FY 2010.
What do you suggest as a prescription for this?Well now it seems the FBI has been outed in the dru....opps sorry, I meant gun smuggling. Not that the FBI has not been on the wrong side of the law before.
When are we going to wake up that Obama or Bush are meaningless and that these bastards have been playing us for idiots for decades!