Speaking of "Fast and Furious": NRA Leaders Well-Versed in Fomenting Foreign Conflicts

The National Rifle Association (NRA) remains absolutely giddy over U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-CA) aggressive investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) through the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee. The investigation centers on a botched 2010 operation by the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) dubbed "Fast and Furious." In an attempt to bust high-level gun traffickers within the Mexican drug cartels, the division allowed approximately 2,000 guns to "walk" from gun stores in Arizona. Agents then lost track of the whereabouts of many of these guns, which began to flow into Mexico -- including two that were found at the scene of a shootout where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed.

Although we don't know all the facts yet, it's clear that "Fast and Furious" was an ill-conceived and reckless operation -- and it may have cost lives. It also cost two high-level officials their jobs -- on August 30, ATF acting director Kenneth Melson and U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke announced their resignations. New leadership can help refocus the agency on its mission--preventing all illegal firearms diversion from U.S. gun stores and gun shows with zero tolerance. Because this is also clear--the 2,000 guns that were allowed to walk in "Fast and Furious" represent just a tiny percentage of the high-powered firearms that are trafficked from the United States to Mexico in the course of a given year.

The NRA was not satisfied with the resignations of Melson and Burke, however, and have their sights set on a bigger target -- Attorney General Eric Holder. Despite the fact that there is no evidence indicating that Holder even knew about "Fast and Furious," the NRA has called on him to resign immediately.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has done an impressive job of feigning outrage in his condemnation of the operation, saying, "These guns are now, as a result of what [ATF] did, in the hands of evil people, and evil people are committing murders and crimes with these guns against innocent citizens." In the September issue of America's 1st Freedom, he referred to "at least 150 Mexican families grieving for loved ones lost because of the perfidy of agency 'leaders' wedded to a wacked-out-scheme."

The NRA's sudden concern about the illegal trafficking of guns to dangerous people couldn't be more hypocritical. It turns out the NRA knows quite a bit about "wacked-out-schemes" that allow "evil people" to hurt "innocent citizens" in foreign countries.

Today, Media Matters investigative reporter David Holthouse reported on the escapades of NRA board member and Soldier of Fortune magazine publisher Bob Brown. In 1983, Brown accompanied a team of mercenaries to El Salvador. The purpose of the trip was to provide training to the forces of fascist leader Roberto D'Aubuisson. Brown even went as far as engaging in combat missions alongside D'Aubuisson's death squads. Known as "Blowtorch Bob" for his torture techniques, D'Aubuisson's most high-profile victim was Bishop Óscar Romero, who was assassinated after speaking out about human rights abuses in El Salvador. Then, in September 1984, Brown sent over 100 men and $4 million in supplies to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Brown justified expending these resources by saying, "Those cretins in Congress won't do anything about [toppling the ruling, left-wing Sandinista FSLN party in Nicaragua]." Finally, there was Brown's boast from a 1986 editorial: "I've hunted terrorists with the Rhodesian African rifles and fired up a Russian fort in Afghanistan with the mujaheddin." The Rhodesian African rifles were a regiment that fought under the rule of white supremacist Prime Minister Ian Smith in Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979. Their campaigns targeted rebel forces in the country that opposed Smith's apartheid policies by advocating for universal suffrage.

Brown is not the only NRA board member with this type of past. Today, the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence launched a new website, www.MeettheNRA.org, that takes a hard look at the people who run the NRA. We were surprised to learn that several of the NRA's board members have helped to foment violence against innocent civilians by personally supporting human rights abusers the world over. Consider the following:

• Grover Norquist. Americans for Tax Reform president and conservative activist Grover Norquist spent time overseas in the 1980s supporting anti-Communist rebel armies in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. According to The Nation magazine, "During the second half of the 1980s, Grover Norquist detoured from his tax work to engage in a series of safaris to far-off battlegrounds in support of anti-Soviet guerrilla armies, visiting war zones from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to southern Africa. Working alongside Col. Oliver North's freelance support network for the Nicaraguan contras and other Reagan Doctrine-allied insurgencies, Norquist promoted US support for groups like Mozambique's RENAMO and Jonas Savimbi's UNITA in Angola, both of which were backed by South Africa's apartheid regime (Norquist represented UNITA as a registered lobbyist in the early 1990s)." UNITA employed child soldiers throughout the Angolan civil war, including during the period when Norquist was a registered lobbyist for the organization. Although now a legitimate political party in Angola, Human Rights Watch once described UNITA as "a rebel group led by Jonas Savimbi, [that] killed, abducted, and terrorized civilians with impunity." RENAMO is estimated to have killed over 1,000,000 civilians in Mozambique.
• Oliver North. Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel/Fox News commentator Oliver North was a central figure in the Iran-Contra Affair. The political scandal, which came to light in November 1986, involved U.S. officials violating an arms embargo to sell weapons to Iran, and then using the residual profits to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. North -- who was serving on the National Security Council in the Reagan administration -- oversaw the transfer of the arms profits to the Contras, who engaged in widespread human rights abuses, including the rape and murder of civilians. They also had links to drug traffickers. In July 1987, North admitted to lying to Congress and shredding important documents related to the Iran-Contra scheme, which he referred to as a "neat idea." He was later indicted on 16 felony counts before being convicted on three of them in 1989. The conviction was vacated in 1990.

  North also boasted of the personal relationship he enjoyed with Panamanian military dictator Manuel Noriega; and sought to bolster Noriega's image in exchange for his help in eliminating the Sandanistas in Nicaragua.

• Roy Innis. Like Grover Norquist, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Chairman Roy Innis also backed the UNITA rebels in Angola. In 1976, Innis recruited a 600-man "peace brigade" to support the forces of Jonas Savimbi's apartheid-backed UNITA.

  Innis recruited the force because he was a "supporter" of Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator who was backing UNITA in the conflict. Innis awarded Amin a lifetime CORE membership and claimed, "Ugandans are happy under General Amin's rule of Africa for black Africans" ... "He has the ability to make decisions, unlike other leaders who theorize but do not execute." In return, Amin awarded Innis Ugandan citizenship in 1973. Amin was a brutal dictator who is estimated to have killed 500,000 of his own countrymen during his eight years of rule. Asked how he could support Amin, a known admirer of Adolf Hitler, Innis replied, "We have no records to prove if Hitler was a friend or an enemy of black people."

Does Wayne LaPierre have pity for the innocent lives lost to these evil people in Africa and South America? Or is LaPierre's outrage reserved only for political and fundraising campaigns designed to discredit the agency that enforces America's gun laws? If LaPierre is serious about stemming the flow of weapons to criminals around the world, he had better clean his own house first -- as opposed to worrying about Eric Holder or anyone else at the Justice Department, whose misdeeds pale in comparison to those of his own board members.

This is the first in a series of articles I have written profiling the rogues gallery that makes up the leadership of the National Rifle Association (NRA). Learn more at www.MeetTheNRA.org.

 

Follow Josh Horwitz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CSGV

Comments

[Old Grady]

06:27 PM on 10/03/2011

"U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he and “the upper levels of the Justice Department” were not aware of the botched “Fast and Furious” gun program..." The old memos are starting to surface now, and it seems that Holder knew all along. My guess is: so did Obama, and the truth will come out eventually. This is an obvious attempt to severely limit your right to bear arms.
I wonder why there aren't a bunch of liberals over here commenting on this particular article? This one will be tough to spin...
A well armed society is a very polite society.

[xpt2wndj]

10:52 AM on 09/27/2011

I am wonder why there hasn't been more coverage of ATF's straw purchase of guns that were given to the Mexican cartels?

It would seem to me that our government allowing guns getting in the hands of bad guys and ending up shooting and killing a border patrol officer and countless Mexicans is a BIG story.

Just imagine our tax dollars and our government employees responsible for the murder of innocent people, this must be a major crime and story, possible bigger than watergate.

Please follow up on fast and furious, it is truly a sad, sad situation when ATF are putting our own citizens in harms way.

[Rooster Coburn]

03:49 PM on 09/15/2011

I don't know why this is called "Fast & Furious" or "Operation Gunwalker" when it should be known as "Gun-Gate". It's much bigger than the "Watergate" scandal ever was. Nobody died or was even injured as a result of Watergate, but several deaths of U.S. Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers have already been traced to F & F. Holder must go! Just like Atty. Gen. John Mitchell had to go.

[David Carson]

04:58 PM on 09/15/2011

I truly hope F&F and Solyndra are still going in November 2012 so BHO has to deal with them in the campaign

[Vintovka]

11:54 AM on 09/15/2011

It is obvious (to me) that F&F was not about catching arms traffickers because it was obviously going to be ineffective for that purpose, but rather was a provocation intended to create a "need" for increasingly restrictive gun laws. For those needing an example of a provocation, please look up "Operation Canned Goods" (1939). In the spirit of 'No Tyrant Left Behind' I'd also like to cite the incident that was used to justify the Soviet invasion of Finland, also in 1939. This is the way government operates, folks. It does something 'under the radar' to create a justification for an action that otherwise would seem arbitrary and unjustified. The decision to create a provocation almost always comes from the top...

[Bill666]

07:11 PM on 09/17/2011

"This is the way government operates, folks. It does something 'under the radar' to create a justificat­ion for an action that otherwise would seem arbitrary and unjustifie­d."

That may have been true back in the old days but Obama is different. He brings us Hope & Change.

[ericr530]

12:15 AM on 09/18/2011

If "Hope and Change" involves a US government agency violating the very laws it's sworn to uphold, please cancel my subscripton immediately.

[DMeadows]

09:14 AM on 09/15/2011

Instead of a piece on Fast & Furious and his outrage over it, Josh is outraged about the NRA's outrage over it. Figures.

[Dimensio]

11:12 AM on 09/15/2011

Mr. Horwitz recognizes that exposure of the "Fast and Furious" program as being a cause of firearms originating in the United States being delivered to Mexican criminal organizations may diminish ability to use criminal actions in the nation of Mexico as justification for imposing unreasonable restriction upon civilian firearm ownership.  To individuals such as Mr. Horwitz, utility is a far greater asset than is honesty.

[David Carson]

04:14 AM on 09/16/2011

I wonder if Mr Horwitz realizes that F&F and Solyndra are going to be a big part of the next election

[ericr530]

10:24 PM on 09/14/2011

This article is a complete hit piece on the NRA. Did the NRA participate in the Contra affair? How is this relavant to the actions of the BATFE now? This is quite atypical of gun groups as of late, to draw attention away from this biggest of scandals ever within an admistration. What does Norquist have to do with Lapierre? Norquist BTW was fighting communism, one of the most evil dogmas of humankind that has claimed the lives of over 60 million people. I'm sorry I nearly forgot, you gun banning types on the far left are closet communists anyway with your hero Che, a prolific murderer himself.

[ericr530]

09:46 PM on 09/14/2011

Here's a stat for you ant-gunners to ponder over. According to the FBI's " Uniform Crime Reports", rates of violent crime have steadily increased in the US,in all but the worst areas since 1994, after the expiration of the Clinton assault weapons ban. Nearly every state and municipality that has allowed licensed concealed carry of handguns has experienced considerable drops in rates of violent crime, name one that hasn't. The State of Illinois and the city of Chicago WILL comply with the Heller dec. of the SCOTUS. It's just a matter of time before the politically corrupt "Chicago Machine" has the full bearing of the SCOTUS and the Constitution shoved down it's throat, forcefully if necessary.

[David Carson]

01:34 PM on 09/15/2011

the only real question is how big a Boeing and how big the private island Gura and company will be able to purchase courtesy of the Chicago taxpayers

[David Carson]

03:16 AM on 09/18/2011

Chicago's stubbornness will help expand the RKBA--if it had tossed the gun ban right after Heller and not played games, we would not have gotten McDonald and Ezell. If Rahm and the aldermen hold true to form on the carry issue--I have a suspicion that we will end up with something real close to Constitutional carry nationwide

[ericr530]

10:45 AM on 09/18/2011

Again if they had obeyed US Constitutional law from the begginning, expensive Jewish lawyers would not have been necessary and placed a tax burden on the people of Chicago. You can thank Dayley and the "Chicago Machine" for that. You reap what you sow.

[ericr530]

09:29 PM on 09/14/2011

"For profit media outlets rarely report on legal defensive uses of arms so doubt about the value of owning a firearm for personal protection should be easy to impart" Tell you what sport, move to a high crime area where the police don't like going and are slow to get to,and see if you feel the same afterwards." " Since this doubles the number of true gun violence victims from 15, 000 to 30,000 then the number is twice as high and therefore seems twice as tragic and should produce twice the emotional response." Ahh! The age old ,and unequivocally predictable tactic by the gun control crowd, manipulate, no flat out lie, about the statistics. Why don't you all move and live under a military dictatorship, they'll make sure your unarmed. After all that's what you all want only the police and military to have guns, right?

[David Carson]

08:42 PM on 09/14/2011

Josh---as the head of "coalition" that studies gun violence--how much research are you really doing since all your posts are one big NRA bashathon--in fact I am surprised that you did not try to work your "insurrectionist" meme in

[G NBanner]

03:06 PM on 09/14/2011

Oh, my!

[David Carson]

08:50 PM on 09/14/2011

With Josh's history, it would be nice if he went after Obama and Holder for illegally selling firearms to the cartels

[william ashbless]

11:20 AM on 09/14/2011

Holder didn't know anything about F&F? A federal agent was murdered w/ 2 guns supplied by the ATF, The FBI arrives on scene and allows a third weapon to simply disappear. There was a deliberate decision to not release this info and to let FELONY accessories to murder of a federal agent plead guilty to immigration crimes and then deported. We have two agencies cooperating in sweeping this farce under the rug and Holder was not made aware of the potential storm brewing?
Is Holder that incompetent to not have a handle on his employee's or is he protecting them or someone higher up? The only way he's protecting underlings is if they have something that implicates HIM.
I can't forget the Brady Campaign releasing details of a meeting with Obama where he assured them that, even though it didn't look like he was doing anything, he was working on something 'Under the radar'. Was F&F what he was referring to? Only time will tell.

[Vince Warde]

11:43 PM on 09/13/2011

Wow, how blind we are!

1) This is the absolute worst disaster in the history of DOJ. Hundreds of people are dead - killed with guns supplied by our government. If Holder did not know about it, he should have, it happened on his watch and he should man up and resign. If he knew about it and did not stop it, he needs to face criminal charges

2) The latest is that Issa has emails that prove that Newell (the guy running the op) LIED ABOUT WHAT HE COMMUNICATED TO THE WHITE HOUSE..

I have been following this story very closely, and so far the only possible motive I can see for the operation was to pump guns into Mexico - in order to justify gun control in the US. After ORDERING dealers to sell to criminals, ATF then named them as "primary sources of crime guns".

As one of the ATF agents said under oath: "Any rookie cop in America could have told you there is no possible way this operation could work." That's why those of us in the gun rights community think there is another agenda at work.

If you would like to explore the story I have written a time line with lots of links to a variety of media from the LA Times and NPR to Fox News. Check it out and make up your own mind. You can find it here: http://reasonedpolitics.blogspot.com/2011/04/hillary-eric-wikileaks-and-batfe.html

[DaveNYC]

11:25 AM on 09/14/2011

That's quite a lot of information you assembled. Thanks!

[grimace71]

06:32 PM on 09/14/2011

Fanned & Fav'd.

Vince, I totally agree with your perspective; however, I am surprised you fail to mention the recent connection made to the CIA. Insiders have reported that the CIA had their hands in this thing in an INTENTIONAL attempt to increase the arsenal of the Sinaloa cartel (major rival to the Los Zetas cartel). It is an established fact that President Calderon's wife is related to the major players in the Sinaloa cartel and the Los Zetas have been mounting a coup ever since Calderon's election.

Even the NPR has reported on how the Mexican government's activities seem to favor / influence the Sinaloa cartel (and subsequently the connection was made between Calderon's wife and the Sinaloas). So...as the CIA Insiders see it...this is an "under-the-radar" conspiracy to assist Calderon and keep him from being overthrown...by arming a very dangerous and vicious drug gang! Of course, I have no doubt that the leadership (DOJ, POTUS) saw this as a potential win-win by propping-up their "buddy" Calderon AND advancing a stalled gun-control agenda. So...this whole F&F debacle just gets worse by the day and even more disgusting than I ever dreamed it would.

[Powerslave Six Six Six]

11:09 PM on 09/13/2011

Meanwhile, the weapons Obama's ATF trafficked to the Mexican cartels continue to kill innocents on both sides of the border.

But, hey! Don't complain. 30 years ago an NRA member did something that Horowitz finds offensive, so all is OK!

[DaveNYC]

04:41 PM on 09/13/2011

I was going to write out a response that objected to the use of a small number (3) of anecdotes to attempt draw much broader conclusions about a very large group of people (75 board members and 3.5 million members).

But then the humor of the situation just sort of overcame me. I mean, this organization has made an entire website that seeks to do nothing more than personally disparage the board members of an organization it disagrees with ideologically.

That's really the best argument you've got?

[frank day]

05:12 PM on 09/13/2011

That's the best argument YOU'VE got??? Really!!!!

[David Carson]

10:59 PM on 09/13/2011

Joshie has a long history of trying to demonize the NRA and proRKBA people because that is the ONLY argument he has beyond "gun owners are insurrectionists"

[Berettasskeeter]

05:59 PM on 09/14/2011

How about the FACT that he has lied about Robert Brown being a torturer??!
Semper fi

[Kandinski]

07:32 PM on 09/13/2011

"Brown even went as far as engaging in combat missions alongside D'Aubuisson's death squads. Known as "Blowtorch Bob" for his torture techniques,...". Doesn't bother you at all does it. Probably do the same thing yourself given the chance, right. Your an all American Boy.

[barry444]

10:04 PM on 09/13/2011

It doesn't say he took part in those activities.

But you're singling out one of a whole lot of people and disparaging an entire organization based on what the one person did three decades ago.

The desperation of that... wow...

[DaveNYC]

11:22 AM on 09/14/2011

Of course it is disturbing. The entire point of the author's post is to argue that because he can identify 3 current or former board members who are disturbing, all 75 of the current board members must be disturbed, and for that matter, so must all 3.5 million NRA members.

Take a look at the website -- they are trying to hang character smears on the most slender of reeds. One friend of mine was smeared because he referred to anti-hunting protestsers as "extremists." Another person I know was smeared because he had written an editorial that discussed gun control by the Obama administration.

This is the problem with trying to hang a policy argument on an ad hominem association.

[G NBanner]

04:25 PM on 09/13/2011

The Second step is to marginalize legal gun use and historic precedent. The Revolutionary War was over 200 years ago and the country has not faced a serious threat to its security for 50 years. Additionally, confusion has been created about weather gun ownership is tied to Militia membership and the difference between the Militia and the National Guard. This creates an opportunity to minimize the need for civilian arms for the greater defense. Additionally, many cities have modern police forces so leave people with the impression that these forces can protect them from all threats and at all times. As an example, since the majority of citizens are not currently living in high crime areas or are not involved in crime themselves, these forces alone can be considered as sufficient without personal security measures. It is often helpful to further marginalize civilian arms ownership by portraying gun owners as paranoid, fearful, and to be compensating for some other shortcoming. In today’s modern world, most people no longer have to hunt for food and accordingly, less people are proficient with arms and use them for sport. For profit media outlets rarely report on legal defensive uses of arms so doubt about the value of owning a firearm for personal protection should be easy to impart. Using isolated incidents of the mishandling of arms can further create doubt about their usefulness as well as create uncertainty about their safe use.

http://tinyurl.com/4k346he