O’s ‘Real’ secret

NY Post ^ | June 21, 2012 | RICH LOWRY

[neverdem]

Pity lead House GOP investigator Rep. Darrell Issa of California. It’s his misfortune that he isn’t looking into matters about which the Obama administration can talk freely — namely, all its covert national-security programs.

If Justice Department documents that Issa's committee seeks from Attorney General Eric Holder had been the subject of a top-secret meeting in the White House Situation Room, their contents already would’ve been splashed across the media. Issa could read the A-1 New York Times story and be done with it.

But the Holder documents are an entirely different matter. They relate to the bizarrely misconceived Operation Fast and Furious, which allowed guns purchased from US shops to fall into the hands of Mexican drug gangs on the theory that . . . well, it's not clear exactly what the theory was. Somehow, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives thought that letting 2,000 guns “walk” into the arsenals of bad actors with no means of tracking them would be a devastating blow against gun-trafficking.

The cone of silence has slammed shut on the latest batch of Fast and Furious documents subpoenaed by Issa. When it’s a secret, high-tech program to disrupt Iran's nuclear program, administration officials are chatty and expansive; when it’s documents that could further embarrass Holder, their rule is “loose lips sink ships.” President Obama is making a dubious...

--snip--

From the start, Holder's Justice Department hasn't been able to keep its story straight on Fast and Furious, although it’s always insisted that top officials had no prior knowledge of it. In a February 2011 letter, it told Congress that the ATF made “every effort” to interdict the guns before they got into Mexico (wrong) and that it hadn't “‘sanctioned’ or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons” to suspicious people (false)...

[unique1]

That link was very helpful, thanks.

[unique1]

Now, that’s some interest insight, thanks!

I’m still a little confused relating to the purpose of the entire program under both Administration - since they knew when straw buyers were buying guns here, why not simply not sell the guns at that point? I suppose catching those in the gun running business is important, but if there is no access to guns from straw buyers there would be no gun running to Mexico,

Now, not tracking guns sold by the Obama Administration must have had an entire different purpose and goal. How that was thought of as helpful to America is the huge question.

[aruanan]

which allowed guns purchased from US shops to fall into the hands of Mexican drug gangs on the theory that

They didn't "allow" them to "fall into the hands of Mexican drug gangs." They deliberately placed them there. And then they deliberately refused to follow or to interdict them.

[Walmartian]

David Burge ‏@iowahawkblog

Obama's Latino outreach: confiscate forks from Hispanics in Florida, give machine guns to Hispanics in Mexico

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[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I’m still a little confused relating to the purpose of the entire program under both Administration - since they knew when straw buyers were buying guns here, why not simply not sell the guns at that point? I suppose catching those in the gun running business is important, but if there is no access to guns from straw buyers there would be no gun running to Mexico.

Well if you think there’s no shortage of straw buyers, the only way to interdict the gunrunning would be to track the middleman between the buyer and the end user. That’s what Bush’s program assayed to do, and it failed.

Now, not tracking guns sold by the Obama Administration must have had an entire different purpose and goal. How that was thought of as helpful to America is the huge question.

What do you mean by “America?” If you mean "the middle class,” Obama has shown no interest at all in promoting “America’s” welfare.