Fast And Furious 28 August 2014
This fiasco of a gun interdiction/tracing operation is one in which common sense, teamwork, and planning went out the window. It was ill conceived and poorly executed. As you can see from my reference list at the bottom of this article I searched many different sources and from different ideological points of view and couldn't come to any other conclusion than what I wrote above.
The overall program started small under President Bush, though I couldn't find much information on the program under his administration other than it did exist. Apparently the weapons under his administration weren't allowed to “walk” across the border. That changed however when a new sub-program, Fast and Furious, was started under the Obama administration with the laudable goal to interdict legally purchased guns and rifles from illegally crossing the border into Mexico to arm the various drug cartels operating there. The program was to trace those guns to the cartels in Mexico and thereby find them and end them.
A small team was put together in Phoenix, Arizona to spearhead Fast and Furious with members from different parts of the the country and with varying backgrounds. The group never gelled into a cohesive team. The documentation shows they were in the midst of envy about their roles, differences in personality, without a structure and processes to support their administrative needs. There also was no coordination with Mexican authorities to trace the weapons once the crossed the border; how was a weapon to be traced in that circumstance?
The team leader, Mr. Voth, never received adequate support from the United States Attorney's office in Phoenix when evidence was brought to their attention of the many “strawmen” buying these weapons with large sums of money when the “strawmen” were on public assistance. The strawmen then “sold” the weapons to a third party who would illegally transport the weapons over the border. What was unknown, apparently to the Phoenix team, is some of these “strawmen” were informants for other law enforcement agencies using money from these agencies to purchase the weapons.
The team and the attorney then decided to institute a wiretap on one of the suspects only to have the suspect change phones within days of the initiation of the wiretap making it useless. They reapplied but by that time events took on a life of their own.
In all, almost 2000 weapons made their way across the border to Mexico. At least 1400 of those weapons are unaccounted for and more than 100 have been used in various crimes on both sides of the border. Agents of various law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border, as well as hundreds of Mexican citizens, have been killed or wounded with these weapons.
When Attorney General Holder was questioned on when he knew about this operation he initially said it was not before February 4, 2011, it was later learned he knew least by September of 2010. He as since had to be subpoenaed to testify before Congress, and the President has used Executive Privilege to block the release of other documents. They are using the excuse that these are just letters, memos and emails which discuss strategy and planning sessions on how to respond to Congressional inquiries. United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ordered the administration to turn over an index of all the documents pertaining to this operation to the court for review by October 1, 2014.
The problem the administration has is the perception they are hiding something. They have been caught in untruths with regard to the embassy take down in Benghazi, Libya, the swap of Sgt. Bergdahl, Obamacare, the lack of prosecuting a case it just had to show up in court to win in a voter intimidation case in Philadelphia regarding the New Black Panther Party, its funding of rebel groups in Syria which have morphed into ISIS/ISIL, and perceived weakness in foreign policy. Their problems may only get worse after October 1, 2014.
Conroy, B.
‘Fast and Furious’ gun running scandal began under President Bush’s watch
Conroy, B. (2014). ‘Fast and Furious’ gun running scandal began under President Bush’s watch. Your Site NAME Goes HERE. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/fast-and-furious-gun-running-scandal-began-under-president-bushs-watch/2012/07/13
CNS News
Gun-Running Timeline: How DOJ’s ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ Unfolded
CNS News,. (2014). Gun-Running Timeline: How DOJ’s ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ Unfolded. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gun-running-timeline-how-doj-s-operation-fast-and-furious-unfolded
Wyler, G.
Here's What You Need To Know About The Gun Running Scandal That Could Destroy Obama's Attorney General
Wyler, G. (2012). Here's What You Need To Know About The Gun Running Scandal That Could Destroy Obama's Attorney General. Business Insider. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-fast-and-furious-2012-6
Newman, A.
Obama’s “Fast and Furious” Gun-running Scandal Grows
Newman, A. (2014). Obama’s “Fast and Furious” Gun-running Scandal Grows. Thenewamerican.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/15533-obama-s-fast-and-furious-gun-running-scandal-grows
Guns Save Lives
BREAKING: Federal Judge Orders Department of Justice to Release "Fast & Furious" Documents
Guns Save Lives,. (2014). BREAKING: Federal Judge Orders Department of Justice to Release "Fast & Furious" Documents. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://gunssavelives.net/blog/court-cases/breaking-federal-judge-orders-department-of-justice-to-release-fast-furious-documents/
Breitbart News Network
Holder Begs Court to Stop Document Release on Fast and Furious
Breitbart News Network,. (2014). Holder Begs Court to Stop Document Release on Fast and Furious. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/17/Holder-begs-court-to-indefinitely-delay-group-s-lawsuit-fighting-for-release-of-Obama-s-executive-privilege-Fast-and-Furious-documents
New York Post
A 'Furious' revelation
New York Post,. (2011). A 'Furious' revelation. Retrieved 27 August 2014, from http://nypost.com/2011/09/29/a-furious-revelation/
