Posted on 10/17/2011 6:43:09 PM PDT by jazusamo
Overseer promised skeptical agents ‘most fun’ with ATF
The central characters in the failed “Fast and Furious” firearms investigation were 19 men and one woman, all legal residents of the U.S., accused of laying down hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit cash at Phoenix-area gun shops to buy an arsenal of high-powered weapons for Mexican drug smugglers.
Between September 2009 and December 2010, congressional investigators said, they purchased or aided in the purchase of more than 2,000 AK-47 assault weapons, Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles, FN 5.7mm semi-automatic pistols and other assorted rifles, shotguns and handguns that later were “walked” into Mexico. About half the weapons remain unaccounted for.
They paid cash, as much as $900,000, and with each purchase they signed their names on Form 4473, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) document, swearing under the threat of committing a felony that they were not purchasing the weapons for someone else — that they were not “straw buyers.”
But they were, and the ATF knew it.
Most of the purchases were recorded on video equipment mounted by ATF agents in the shops of cooperating gun dealers; other buys were personally witnessed by undercover agents in the stores. Some ATF officials at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters could watch live video feeds of the weapons being purchased.
The plan
It was part of a plan, a risky strategy to allow weapons to be placed in what agents call the “Iron River” of guns flowing south into Mexico. The goal, of course, was to feed the gun-trafficking network and to identify the big fish, the drug cartel bosses in Mexico who were paying for the weapons.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The ATF is clearly overbudgeted - 110%.
STOP IT!! IT WASN’T BOTCHED!!
Talk abut spin. The Obama / Holder PLAN was to use the hitherto secret sales as evidence of a FALSE desperate need for gun control....the DOJ sent out letters for a long gun registry already in border states, the NRA is all over it:
“The government-sanctioned gunrunning operation, Fast and Furious, was a plot to undermine Second Amendment rights in the United States, National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre charged on Friday in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV.
“It’s the only thing that makes any sense,” LaPierre said. “Over a period of two or three years they were running thousands and thousands of guns to the most evil people on earth. At the same time they were yelling ’90 per cent… of the guns the Mexican drug cartels are using come from the United States.’”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2793220/posts
The shite is about to hit the fan if the MSM is spinning the story to minimize the public knowledge of the truth.
Holder, Obama and ANYONE else involved should be in a Mexican prison or tried for TREASON.
It was definitely botched, from the standpoint the operation was discovered and now the people in our government responsible are going to pay a price.
...Were they ordered? Were they threatened with dismissal? Were they forced? Were they willing participants? If they're guilty, will they be pardoned? Tune in again tomorrow for "Criminal Law Enforcement Debacle"...
Maybe just semantics. But I hope you’re right that they pay the price, The bastards. My hope is that those responsible aren’t sentenced until after Hussein leaves so that there will be no pardon.
Amen...Many of them deserve hard time.
The goal, of course, was to feed the gun-trafficking network and to identify the big fish, the drug cartel bosses in Mexico who were paying for the weapons.
..........................................................
BS, The goal was to deprive Americans of their 2nd. Amendment rights by lying about American guns going in to Mexico. American guns were going in to Mexico by order of Eric Holder and Barrack Obama.
BS. This was not the goal, and it wasn't botched.
The goal was 2-fold: first, to cover up the fact that the "90%" meme (that 90% of illegal guns in Mexico originated in the US) was patently false; and second to use all of these guns being conveniently "found" in Mexico as a means of limiting our rights here (to eliminate gun shows and sales of semi-autos, .50 cal. weapons, etc.). Of course, the 90% meme originated as a means of advancing gun control, but nobody bought it since the statistics were skewed by the Mexican government (at some gun-grabber's behest?) only trying to trace guns that were strongly suspected of having a US origin and forgetting the rest. Hence the need to come up with "new data" to "confirm" the meme. Of course, no one bothered to ask the Mexican government for permission to funnel guns to their drug gangs.
The biggest problem with this scheme (aside from lying to the American public, conspiring to deprive the public of basic rights, obstruction of justice (a not-so-minor crime, just ask Nixon) and violating the sovereignty of an ostensibly friendly neighbor) is that the intent from Day 1 was to trace the guns only AFTER they had been used in crimes - i.e. AFTER innocents had been wounded or murdered, i.e. the very goal was truckloads of dead, maimed and just plain wounded victims to use in blaming (and restricting) our basic right to keep and bear arms. So add "accessory to murder" to the charges.
All in the name of gun control. Hanging is too damned good for these callous, murdering traitors.
Botched? Hell no, it succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of the conspirators (who clearly included Holder "the chief law enfocement officer in the nation" - what a sick joke, and probably Obama (who repeatedly told Sarah Brady and other obsessive gun-grabbers that althings are going on behind the scenes" -how would he know unless he was involved?)). No, the only thing botched was failing to keep it quiet - a few decent BATFE agents couldn't stand what was happening and blew the whistle on their own blog.
Yet, they took not a single step to actually track the weapons.
Somebody is lying here.
At the same time, the ATF officials pledged to the gun dealer that they would see to it that the guns never reached the border.
Yet, the weapons apparently left the ATF's sight once they left the dealer's door.
Somebody is lying here.
Once the balloon went up with Terry's death, the DOJ arrested all the "straw buyers" -- and claimed it was they who had been the target of the investigation all along.
Yet, I'm advised all twenty "straw buyers" in the operation are now free on bail and...are nowhere to be found.
Somebody is lying here.
What was actually "botched" about this operation was the DOJ, ATF, FBI, DEA, IRS and Homeland Security getting caught...with their pants down.
How a POTUS thought up and is so stupid he thought even if caught he’d still get away with it.
Only a Community Organizer could be such a fool. He’s used to racebaiting White fools and then winning the hand even if he was exposed.
This is Obama’s WATERGATE but in this case he planned it and is in on the cover up. The REPUBS will not take him down with this, they learned their lesson with Clinton. The DEMOCRAT PARTY is the party of traitors and criminals. They will with few exceptions sell out our country.
The TREASON we are witnessing will not stop until the hangings start.
Yep, they got caught and had to lie through their teeth.
Had there not been two or three ATF agents not go along with the program they wouldn’t have been caught.
Had not Republicans won back the House of representatives the Obama DOJ would likely still be playing their deadly game.
The MSM wants to report this as a simple screw up, the truth is far more damaging to the Obama regime.
Agree with your post, especially the above. It was botched in the sense they got caught and the one person in the LSM that is causing them real grief is Sharyl Attkisson. God bless her!
Repeated, with emphasis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
