Now that Republicans in Congress won important concessions from President Obama in the debt ceiling debate, the next partisan battle is likely to be over what promises to be the first major scandal of the Obama administration: the botched gun sting known as "Operation Fast and Furious." The administration should waste no time and come clean about what happened, who approved it, and how it can be avoided again.
Unfortunately, the early signs are that Obama is going to handle this controversy as poorly as he handled the debt ceiling debate.
First, a little background. The operation began in November 2009 in an effort to crack down on Mexican drug cartels, which have been known to use military-style firearms purchased in gun shops on the U.S. side of the border. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive ("ATF") allowed approximately 1,700 guns to be sold illegally to suppliers of the cartels and then failed to keep track of the weapons. Many of the guns have since been recovered at crime scenes, including two guns recovered at the scene of a fatal attack on a U.S. border agent.
A congressional oversight committee has already launched an investigation, headed up by California Republican Darrell Issa. The administration has dug in its heals and appears to be cooperating only superficially with the committee. Kenneth Melson, the acting director of ATF, reportedly told members of Congress that the Department of Justice is hiding information in an effort to protect "political appointees," perhaps including Attorney General Eric Holder.
And a report last week disclosed that the administration also gave misleading answers to an inquiry from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley about the guns found at the border agent's murder.
If the Obama administration doesn't act quickly to address this scandal, the squall over the misguided sting could become a Category 5 hurricane.
Although Fast and Furious hasn't garnered much attention so far in the mainstream press, it's become the talk of the gun rights community. The NRA, which has long demonized Holder for his support of gun control, will continue to pressure Issa and it's other allies on Capitol Hill to investigate further. Melson, the ATF chief, apparently believes that by pinning blame on Justice Department officials, he can save his job. With the 2012 election on the horizon, Republicans in Congress have every incentive to keep digging.
As usual in Washington, the cover-up is probably worse than the crime. Law enforcement uses sting operations all the time. Sometimes you have to allow smaller crimes to occur so that you can capture the people behind far bigger crimes. In this case, the government was going after major drug kingpins responsible for an unprecedented wave of violence in Mexico. On this side of the border, the targeted cartels are feeding drugs to American children.
Fast and Furious may have been a bad idea, but Americans can understand the dire situation that led to the program. Indeed, members of Congress, including Issa, were apparently informed about the sting operation a year ago and raised no objection. Cracking down on violent drug lords is inevitably a messy job.
Yet instead of defending itself, the administration has stonewalled. Melson said he was instructed not to speak with congressional investigators. Months after receiving requests from Congress, the DOJ has only turned over only a paltry number of documents.
When Sen. Grassley asked ATF if the guns that had been "used" in the killing of the border agent were part of the Fast and Furious operation, the bureau said no. The bureau failed to acknowledge, however, that two of the guns found at the scene were indeed part of the program on the shaky grounds that the evidence didn't conclusively show the Fast and Furious guns fired the fatal shots.
That kind of logic may work for a lawyer in a court of law, but won't work for politicians in the halls of Congress.
The administration claims there are current law enforcement efforts that require secrecy. Yet those reasons shouldn't prevent disclosure of information about the planning of the sting.
The administration's stalling is also likely to impede its efforts to adopt new gun control. Efforts to shore up the background checks required for many gun purchases and a proposal to restrict high-capacity ammunition clips won't go anywhere so long as Republicans in Congress can point to the ATF scandal. Nor will the administration gain confirmation of its new choice to head ATF so long as Melson is seen as a whistleblower.
Obama took office promising unparalleled transparency, yet top officials have been anything but with regard to Fast and Furious. Instead of addressing the questions head on, which might end the controversy quickly, the administration is guaranteeing that the investigation will drag on and on. Soon it will develop into a full-blown political scandal and Obama will wish that instead of ignoring this controversy, he'd dealt with it fast and furious.
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And were the meetings where Congressional members were given information on Fast and Furious like the meetings where they were given information on "mushroom clouds", "biological weapons labs" and more which led to the invasion of Iraq? The administration (in this case, Holder) can give out misinformation without question -
Trying to blame this fiasco on the gun shop owners (who objected) and the ATF agents (who also objected) is unconscionable - man up and take the blame for a botched program, Holder.
Since you seem to be one of the only people who is looking into this -- as you note -- so here's a free suggestion. About 5 years ago BATF was moved from Treasury to the Land of Holder and Ashcroft, aka the Department of Justice. This immediately resulted in several changes at ATF, and Operation Fast & Furious appears to be one of those changes.
So, the fact that the tracks of Fast and Furious seems to run in and out of Holder's office is highly significant. And should be pursued.
I quite agree that President Obama is not handling the situation very well. The above comments suggest one solution that would be well received by pretty much everyone (except DOJ).
Nothing sums your point up better than this, "On this side of the border, the targeted cartels are feeding drugs to American children."
The truth is Fast and Furious/Project Gunrunner had nothing to do with the drug problem, nothing to do with "saving our children," and certianly nothing to do with cartels. It was about creating evidence to justify an expansion of gun control programs here in the US, by showing how US guns are flooding Mexico (truth: they weren't).
I applaud you for your courage to help the Obama administration find a new argument that can soften American sentiment about an approved program that resulted in the avoidable, violent deaths of two American federal officers, and dozens (if not more) Mexican citizens. Perhaps this will get traction with the American public, as the guise quickly reaches out to core emotions ("Stop drugs!" "Save our children!"). Sad, though, that you would use these tactics to fool your readers.
Uhhh? It was a bad idea to start with... Gun control by proxy... They proved it buy making it where the border states have to register more than 2 weapons but the rest of the states do not...
"The administration has dug in its heals and appears to be .."
1) Submit two sets of fingerprints and a current photo
2) Swear that the firearm is of "reasonable necessity" and that
when you wish to sell the weapon, it be done so with what is
"consistent with public safety ."
3) A background investigation will also be performed at this time.
4) A chief law enforcement official of the residential jurisdiction must
sign off on the application.
First, you will need to determine what firearm you would like. To submit the paperwork,
you must also submit the serial number of the weapon in question, as well as the caliber
and type, barrel length, and overall length are also needed.
Second, you will need to submit to two fingerprints, and two passport photos. These will be
accompanied with the two Form 4 copies you need (see links below).
Third a local Chief Officer to get them to sign off your Form 4. This
could include the following: Chief of Police, Sheriff, DA, and the
State Attorney General.
This will be the toughest phase, as there is no law stating that they must sign. It is basically up
to them.
Fourth, once you have submitted this paperwork, and been approved, you will need to submit Form 5530-20
(Certificate of Compliance) with a check for $200.00 and the Form 4 to the ATF.
Obviously, when the gun control lobby is talking about "we don't do enough", what they mean is their goal is a gun ban.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-fast-furious-20110805,0,7816124.story
"Revela "Vicentillo" pacto entre "El Chapo" y la DEA (published 03 Aug 2011 in major
newspapers across Mexico)
This wasn't a "misguided sting" it was a deliberate attempt to undermine the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. By allowing these guns to walk Obama could have used Mexico crime scene evidence to go after gun manufactures and distributors in the U.S.
Sure, you have your 2nd Amendment but try to buy a gun when no one is making them.
Oh, and by the way, that strategy came directly out of Obama's mouth. As the Washington Post reported, he stated that his gun control activities would be kept "under the radar".
Chilling!
Gun control advocates love to claim, "we're not out to take away anyone's guns". So, if nothing nefarious is being discussed among gun control advocates, why does the President have to keep anything "under the radar" from the American people?
Except for guns. While law enforcement occasionally lets minor contraband walk as part of a larger investigation, guns are the exception. It's a hard and fast rule that you *never* lose track of guns.
I understand holding off on enforcement can be a legitimate thing in investigations, but some common sense needs to be applied! There are some things too important to be allowed to "walk" and lose track of.
And then, Holder and his ilk try to blame America's right to keep and bear arms for guns getting to Mexico. What bald-faced hypocrisy and dishonesty!
Perhaps Issa's committee was briefed on operations, and some details of it, but I guarantee you they didn't know the particularly troublesome aspects of it.