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Deadly Incompetence
IBD Editorials ^ | June 15, 2011 | Staff

Posted on 06/15/2011 6:07:28 PM PDT by Kaslin

Scandal: Given the federal government's batting average, another failure should come as no surprise. But sometimes the incompetence strains believability. Case in point: "Operation Fast and Furious."

That's the code name for what the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives thought was a good idea: Put large numbers of semiautomatic weapons into the hands of Mexican gangsters, wait until they commit crimes, then track them.

Mexico is in the throes of a civil war that pits drug cartels against the government. The drug gangs are winning, having killed 34,000 people in the past five years.

So just on the surface, "Fast and Furious" has to be one of the dumbest operations ever carried out by a U.S. agency. Dig a little deeper, and it's also deadly.

Higher-ups at the ATF were warned repeatedly by their own agents that the plan was dangerous and unworkable. But the bosses ignored the warnings and even punished those who told them the obvious truth.

"Every time we questioned that order, there was punitive action," ATF agent John Dodson told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is holding hearings on the operation.

Dodson's tale is as predictable as it is tragic. The ATF lost track of as many as 1,800 of the semiautomatic weapons it put into circulation. Many of the weapons were used to commit crimes. And two of them were found at the murder scene of an ATF agent.

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS: atf; banglist; batfe; cw2; cwii; fastandfurious; ftroop; gunwalker
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1 posted on 06/15/2011 6:07:28 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The Mexican government should have something to say about the consequences of this program on Mexican citizens. Wonder why they’re not saying much?


2 posted on 06/15/2011 6:16:19 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. *4192*)
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To: Kaslin

And still we’re on board with the UN plan to register all guns everywhere.


3 posted on 06/15/2011 6:16:25 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 875 of our national holiday from reality. - Obama really isn't one of us)
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To: Kaslin

That program eclipsed incompetence all the way to unbelievably STUPID! Who gave the order? Wanna bet it went all the way to Obama?


4 posted on 06/15/2011 6:19:13 PM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: Kaslin

Just when did Operation Fast and Furious commence?


5 posted on 06/15/2011 6:21:31 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: Kaslin
It wasn't dumb. It was brilliant. Surreptitiously move semi-autos to Mexican cartels, and then blame FFLs, gunshops, and gunowners.

Go to the UN and tell them how EEEEEVVVIILLL semi-autos are and have them banned by treaty.

The only thing is F-Troop got caught, and their game to disarm the citizens of the United States, or at least, severely restrict their choice in home defense firearms has been curtailed by their malfeasance.

I wouldn't put it past F-Troop to be in Central America training "death squads" to kill Americans with Fast and Furious guns in order to initiate a crisis.

FU Ftroop. You are worthless! I hope you all get fired and put in prison.

6 posted on 06/15/2011 6:26:56 PM PDT by DCBryan1 (FORGET the lawyers...first kill the "journalists". (Die Ritter der Kokosnuss))
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To: DCBryan1

At least your scenario makes sense of this. Incompetence does not make sense - these people cannot be that stupid......can they?


7 posted on 06/15/2011 6:37:39 PM PDT by Aria ( "If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.")
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To: Don Corleone
The country is being run by morons. These Federal law enforcement agencies are in the control of incompetent political hacks. They run everything else in The Administration.

Obama and his ambitious rookies need to go.

8 posted on 06/15/2011 6:48:11 PM PDT by oyez (The difference in genius and stupidity is that genius has limits.)
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To: DCBryan1
You are correct. This was going to be the proof that gun dealers were selling weapons to the drug cartel in preparation for seizing American weapons under the cover of whatever fig leaf they could find. Mexico is quiet b/c they expect to get something in return.
9 posted on 06/15/2011 6:58:45 PM PDT by Nuc 1.1 (Nuc 1 Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
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To: Aria

Don’t overlook the very real possibility that one, or more, persons were financially profiting from this scheme. Follow the money.


10 posted on 06/15/2011 7:13:23 PM PDT by Res Nullius (Sometimes you have to kill a chicken to teach the monkey a lesson)
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To: BuckeyeTexan

“The Mexican government should have something to say about the consequences of this program on Mexican citizens. Wonder why they’re not saying much?”

Greed, Corruption, etc. etc. Which we, the, USA is probably the leader of...!


11 posted on 06/15/2011 7:14:20 PM PDT by mongo141
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To: Kaslin

At this point, only total morons and active Obama/Holder allies can hear the “sting” explanation for F&F without laughing out loud.


12 posted on 06/15/2011 7:20:48 PM PDT by Travis McGee (Castigo Cay is in print and on Kindle.)
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To: DCBryan1

I think that your broad strokes are correct.


13 posted on 06/15/2011 7:25:19 PM PDT by Travis McGee (Castigo Cay is in print and on Kindle.)
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To: Nuc 1.1

Holder and the ATF honchos must be real idiots if they thought that F&F could accomplish that end without extreme blowback.

They do not live in the real world.


14 posted on 06/15/2011 7:26:51 PM PDT by Travis McGee (Castigo Cay is in print and on Kindle.)
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To: Kaslin

The ATF has been unAmerican and in enemy hands for decades.


15 posted on 06/15/2011 7:56:40 PM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: Aria
Yes.
They can most certainly be “that stupid”.

Ignorance can be easily corrected with factual knowledge.
Stupidity /Incompetence is incurable, and prevalent in modern society.

16 posted on 06/15/2011 8:15:03 PM PDT by sarasmom (God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy....)
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To: Kaslin
Well, not only have agencies within our government been this stupid, incompetent, or diabolical (take your pick), but we, the taxpayers, have been paying them the whole time.

Time for them to check out the job market, and not on our payroll, after those responsible have been up on charges and the guilty served their time.

17 posted on 06/16/2011 2:52:36 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: oyez

“The country is being run by morons.”

No, they are not morons. That implies that they don’t know what they are doing. They know exactly what they are doing. They are nothing but evil.


18 posted on 06/16/2011 4:17:19 AM PDT by caver (Obama: Home of the Whopper)
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To: Kaslin; harpseal; TexasCowboy; nunya bidness; AAABEST; Travis McGee; Squantos; wku man; SLB; ...
Now IBD has picked up the "Fast and Furious" story.

As far as the title goes, there was no "incompetence" -- this whole corrupt action was a carefully-planned operation to bolster the FedGov's agenda to disarm We The People.

The BATFE & its superiors simply didn't count on a US law-enforcement officer getting killed by a weapon that our own government provided the drug cartels, with the weapon recovered afterwards.

Click the Gadsden flag for pro-gun resources!

19 posted on 06/16/2011 6:38:40 AM PDT by Joe Brower (Sheep have three speeds: "graze", "stampede" and "cower".)
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To: BuckeyeTexan
The Mexican government should have something to say about the consequences of this program on Mexican citizens. Wonder why they’re not saying much?

They're probably quietly laying the legal groundwork to extradite and prosecute the leadership of the ATF, if not the DoJ, and letting Issa do their criminal investigation for them.

20 posted on 06/16/2011 7:08:38 AM PDT by mvpel
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