Legal U.S. gun sales to Mexico arming cartels

CBS News ^ | December 6, 2011 | Sharyl Attkisson

[HammerT]

(CBS News) Selling weapons to Mexico - where cartel violence is out of control - is controversial because so many guns fall into the wrong hands due to incompetence and corruption. The Mexican military recently reported nearly 9,000 police weapons "missing."

Yet the U.S. has approved the sale of more guns to Mexico in recent years than ever before through a program called "direct commercial sales." It's a program that some say is worse than the highly-criticized "Fast and Furious" gunrunning scandal, where U.S. agents allowed thousands of weapons to pass from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels.

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson discovered that the official tracking all those guns sold through "direct commercial sales" leaves something to be desired.

[MurrietaMadman]

The CBS story implies government to government sales. But the State Department also approves weapon sales to foreign companies, si?

From July 13, 2011 http://www.elpasotimes.com/communities/ci_18465182

“The military task force became concerned that its information about arms smuggling was being compromised,” Plumlee said. “From the intel, it appears that a company was set up in Mexico to purchase weapons through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales program, and that the company may have had a direct link to the Zetas.”

Having to address complicated issues that arise from such allegations may be beyond CBS ability.

[LucyT]

Legal U.S. gun sales to Mexico arming cartels

For the morning crowd...

Article, then check out # 2 , # 8 , # 12.

Thanks, MestaMachine.