House Panel Slams 'Fast and Furious' Gun Operation Tied to Border Agent's Death

Foxnews ^ | 6/15/2011 | William LaJeunesse

[Blood of Tyrants]

A U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border spiraled out of control as federal agents were told by superiors to "stand down" and ignore weapons bought in Arizona headed for Mexico, a House panel heard Wednesday.

Three federal firearms investigators told the House Oversight and Government Reform committee that they wanted to "intervene and interdict" loads of guns, but were repeatedly ordered to step aside.

"Allowing loads of weapons that we knew to be destined for criminals -- this was the plan," John Dodson, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, testified to the panel. "It was so mandated."

He added: "My supervisors directed me and my colleagues not to make any stop or arrest, but rather, to keep the straw purchaser under surveillance while allowing the guns to walk."

[TXnMA]

What was the name and title of the DOJ puke who was testifying at the end of the hearing?

And ...would you buy a used car from that guy?

[Jubal Harshaw]

I really don’t think that Iran-Contra is the best comparison. A better example, in my opinion, is the El Rukn - Libya arms deal of the 1980s.

In the El Rukn - Libya deal, as in gunwalker, one country (Libya in the 1980s, the US now) smuggled significant amounts of small arms to a criminal element in another country. In the El Rukn - Libya deal, the criminal element (the El Rukns) agreed to commit terrorist acts (allegedly the downing of aircraft at O’Hare) in exchange for those small arms. We don’t yet know what the narcotrafficantes in gunwalker agreed to do in exchange for the weapons they were getting, but it’s a fair bet that they would be willing to do something nefarious in exchange for the weapons they were getting.

The US end of that deal, El Rukn HQ, was about 1 1/2 miles from Obama’s Chicago home. The El Rukns, like Obama in the mid 1980s, were community organizers. In fact, the El Rukns had apparently gotten their start using federal funds meant for local community organizing activities (though the El Rukns called themselves the “Blackstone Rangers” when they got their federal funds). It’s a pretty fair bet that community organizer Obama at least knew, and likely worked with, El Rukn leaders.

What really differentiates gunwalker and the El Rukn - Libya deal from Iran-Contra is the lack of any plausible higher purpose. I strongly disapproved of Iran-Contra, and thought (and still think) that it justified impeachment and perhaps removal from office ... but I can at least see that the people involved in Iran-Contra probably thought they were serving a higher purpose. Gunwalker, like the El Rukn - Libya deal, cannot plausibly be said to have been conceived with any good purpose in mind.

[archy]