BBC News: "US-Mexico ATF firearms smuggling sting 'mistakes'"

[friendly_iconoclast]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14057363

US-Mexico ATF firearms smuggling sting 'mistakes'

The head of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has said mistakes were made in an operation to track the illegal movement of guns to Mexico.

Operation Fast and Furious saw US agents allowing hundreds of guns into Mexico illegally with the hope of tracking them to major arms dealers.

But the operation led to no arrests and many of the smuggled guns were later found at crime scenes.....

....Kenneth Melson, acting head of the ATF, has come under pressure to resign over the sting carried out by an Arizona-based branch of the agency.

But in a closed meeting with members of Congress on Monday, he said he had not known about the operation until it became public and that the department of justice (DOJ) had tried to prevent him from co-operating with the inquiry....

Hmm, whatever happened to those folks who were claiming that this was either a) a NRA/GOP plot, or b) completely overblown

and the ATF was doing its job?


They seem to have disappeared since these new revelations (Melson's testimony, the details of Operation Castaway in Tampa)

have come to light...

[X_Digger]

1. "he said he had not known about the operation until it became public"

... If that's the case, then why did Melson have a video feed direct to his computer of the surveillance cameras?

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. I forgot about that. Melson must think he's Rebekah Brooks.

In reality, he's going to be discarded like a loaded diaper...

[Springer9]

3. The whole F'ing thing was right there in the F'ing

H.R.1 - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

For an additional amount for ‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’, $40,000,000, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner.

Oh, nobody knew about it my azz.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1436230

[Katya Mullethov]

4. Be fair now

They had to pass that thing in order to see what was in it .

[SSDA]

5. Holder - busted.

Holder - busted!!!!!




Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference
CUERNAVACA, MEXICO ~ Thursday, April 2, 2009

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

First, let me express my thanks to Attorney General Medina Mora and Secretary of Government Gomez Mont for making this conference possible.

 This is my first trip to another country as Attorney General.   I wanted to come to Mexico to deliver a single message: We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this fight against the narcotics cartels.  The United States shares responsibility for this problem and we will take responsibility by joining our Mexican counterparts in every step of this fight. 

 And, together, we will win – thanks in large part to the courage of my Mexican colleagues here today, who are on the front lines every day, and with whom I am proud to collaborate.

 The topic that has been addressed over the past two days could not be more important – the development of an arms trafficking prosecution and enforcement strategy on both sides of the border.  

 I would like to thank the Mexican and U.S. experts who have worked so hard on this issue.  On our side, Secretary Napolitano and I are committed to putting the resources in place to increase our attack on arms trafficking into Mexico. 

 Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels.  My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion.  DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail.

 But as today’s conference has emphasized, the problem of arms trafficking will not be stopped at the border alone.  Rather, as our experts emphasized, this is a problem that must be met as part of a comprehensive attack against the cartels – an attack in depth, on both sides of the border, that focuses on the leadership and assets of the cartel.  This is the type of full-bore, prosecution-driven approach that the U.S. Department of Justice took to dismantle La Cosa Nostra – once the most powerful organized crime group operating in the United States.  
 With partners like those we have here today, I am confident that together, we will defeat these narcotics cartels in exactly the same way.  I am proud to stand with you, and to join you in this fight.  Thank you again for inviting me here.

Quiero que el pueblo Mexicano sepa que mi nación está con ustedes en la lucha contra los narcotraficantes.

México y los Estados Unidos comparten mas que una frontera—compartimos cultura, sangre e intereses comunes. Somos hermanos unidos contra una batalla que ganaremos.

Tenemos que aprender de uno a otro, trabajar juntos y luchar juntos.  Si hacemos estas cosas, si nos dedicamos juntos a esta lucha, no tengo duda que tendremos éxito.



http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090402.html

[eqfan592]

7. Keep in mind that Gunrunner by itself isn't the real issue.

That was a program that everybody knew about that came around under the Bush Admin. It's operation Fast and Furious that was a subset of Gunrunner where all the real shit hit the fan and that is the major focal point of the investigation.

[SSDA]

11. Check this out.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/09/2440172/atf-mexican-cartels-paid-to-inform.html

[X_Digger]

12. I'll reserve judgement until we get corroboration..

Melson's the one who says he'd never heard of F&F, but had a video feed to his PC.

Wouldn't surprise me if he's trying to deflect the shitstorm.

[DWC]

16. I believe the video link

was to the regional director in Phoenix, not the acting director of the ATF in DC.

Semper Fi,

[Tejas]

6. Phoenix, Houston, Tampa, ...

Where next, Oklahoma City?

[spin]

8. Some "Project Gunwalker" firearms bought with tax payer dollars ...

Stunning new 'Gunwalker' allegations expose massive scale of scandal
Kurt Hofmann St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner
July 7, 2011

Those trying to stay abreast of the "Project Gunwalker" scandal have had their work cut out for them this week. Shocking (even to those of us who have been watching) new revelations have been coming at a pace one could describe as, um . . . fast and furious. Yesterday morning started with the news that beleaguered Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) Acting Director Kenneth Melson had secretly met with congressional investigators--with his personal attorney--on July 4. The two men spearheading that investigation, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) wrote a letter (pdf file) to Attorney General Eric Holder about the meeting with Melson.

***snip***

More dramatically, Melson revealed that not only were other federal agencies (including, but perhaps not limited to, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency, and U.S. Attorney's Office) heavily involved with the people the BATFE was supposedly trying to "bust," but that in some cases, the "walked" guns were bought with American tax dollars:

The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities.

And we still haven't gotten to yesterday evening's blockbuster. A source of David Codrea's and Mike Vanderboegh's, whose history of accurate tips has given them reason for confidence in his allegations, claims that another "Project Gunwalker" has been run out of the BATFE's Tampa, Florida office, running guns to Honduras. Today, Vanderboegh answers the "Why Honduras?" question (basically, as we have discussed more than once in the past, the real source of Mexican "crime guns" has quite a lot to do with Central America).

http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st-louis/stunning-new-gunwalker-allegations-expose-massive-scale-of-scandal?fb_comment=35156391#ixzz1RcvjosdL

Justice Department Obstructing 'Fast and Furious' Gun Probe, ATF Director Says
By William Lajeunesse

Published July 06, 2011


The Justice Department is obstructing the congressional investigation of a U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border, according to the embattled leader of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ken Melson, the acting director of the ATF, lobbed the accusation when he sneaked in for an interview with congressional investigators on July 4, two days ahead of his scheduled interview with the inspector general about the operation known as "Fast and Furious," Fox News has learned.

***snip***

In a separate development, congressional sources have learned that not only was U.S. taxpayer money being used to buy guns that were later sent to Mexico, but the main target of the investigation was actually a FBI informant and former drug dealer who had been deported years ago.emphasis added

***snip***

The alleged coverup involves three law enforcement agencies: the ATF, FBI and the DEA, or Drug Enforcement Administration.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/06/justice-department-obstructing-fast-and-furious-gun-probe-atf-director-says/#ixzz1RcxJJrvf

[Hoopla Phil]

9. I read recently that Mexico is asking for the extradition of the ATF agents

involved with this.

[SSDA]

10. Wow. Check this out!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/09/2440172/atf-mexican-cartels-paid-to-inform.html

[Hoopla Phil]

13. Oh man, that needs it's own thread. Go ahead and post it. This just keeps

getting deeper and deeper.

[SSDA]

14. I dnt have enough posts yet.

To start a thread.

[friendly_iconoclast]

17. I'll post it. Thanks for finding this.

This just keeps getting deeper and deeper, doesn't it?

[SSDA]

18. Unreal ATF - issuing new rules on the border!!!

ATF to Require Information on Frequent Gunbuyers in Border States
AP ^ | July 11, 2011




WASHINGTON -- In an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico, the Justice Department announced Monday that all gun shops in four Southwest border states will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles.

The new policy comes amid criticism of a failed federal probe aimed at dismantling large-scale arms trafficking networks along the Arizona border with Mexico.

In the probe, called Operation Fast and Furious, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say they were inexplicably ordered by superiors to stop tracking some small-time "straw" buyers who purchased large numbers of weapons apparently destined for drug cartels.

Under the new policy, federal firearms licensees in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico must report purchases of two or more of some types of rifles by the same person in a five-day span. The requirement applies to purchases of semi-automatic rifles that have detachable magazines and a caliber of greater than .22.

ATF estimates it will generate 18,000 reports a year.

[SSDA]

15. Good timeline

Here is a good timeline of events I found

http://www.handgunclub.com/hca/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Project-Gunrunner-timelines0708.pdf

[Ragnarok]

19. I wonder when "Operation Castaway"...

...will gather any national attention in the mainstream media?

[Katya Mullethov]

20. When Skoll finally eats The Sun

I remember how mad I was at Nixon for preempting my cartoons . It was all Watergate 7 days a week ..like ... furr-eevarrr !

To reiterate an important point about the MSM . The new media (social media) which is " us" , or as it's been mockingly referred " the resistance" is who broke this story and kept the heat on until things started happening . That is but one aspect of this tale that is not being told , and likely for the same self serving reasons . Maybe if somebody eats part of a baby and wears the leftovers like a hat on live teevee you will see 24 hour a day coverage like they had for Uncle Fester in Phoenix , but even then I am not so sure . They sure had high hopes for that one . lol .