ATF has been slow to produce answers for Congress. Grassley is now accusing ATF of stonewalling.
The press has had a field day. One story after another has appeared in papers and on television stations around the country. None of them good. ATF looks like the stuff it has stepped in.
“The feeling is that somebody was sleeping at the switch, although they had good intentions,” one ATF official told me. “It was not a well thought out plan. I think there’s a lot of finger pointing right now.”
Agents say clearly letting so many guns walk was a big mistake. The goal was too ambitious, the risk too great. Maybe the agency was responding to criticism that it needed to go after bigger fish. That’s still not an excuse.
Regardless, agents say they’ve been left in the dark. The ATF honchos at headquarters aren’t telling them anything. They’ve had to rely on information from the media. Many have been demoralized by the mess.
Plus, it’s caused a strain between Washington and the Mexican officials, who feel that the Americans don’t respect them. Let’s face it: It’s highly unlikely ATF would have let that many guns walk had it known they were going to end up in the hands of American criminals around the U.S.
It was a bad plan. And the Justice Department needs to shoulder some blame since someone fairly high up knew about it and gave the blessing.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
ATF "Official" sez: “It was not a well thought out plan. I think there’s a lot of finger pointing right now.” No kidding?
Allan Lengel, writing at the Federal Law Enforcement blog, Tickle the Wire, says: ATF Needs to Clean the Manure Off Its Boots Now.
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6 comments:
He gives the ATF/DOJ/etc bosses a lot more credit for honorable intentions than do I. Lessee:
1. ATF chose to not block strawman sales to suspected Mexican cartel-linked gunrunner. (which would have been a good way to cut the problem off _before_ it was a lethal problem.)
2. The ATF apparently _paid_ gun dealers as "informants" to deliberately allow strawman sales to said criminals. (Which dosn't look a whole lot like trying to dam some mythical "iron river" to me.)
3. Field agents told their bosses this was a bad idea. (No shit.)
4. Field agents specifically warned this could get innocents (and LEOs) killed. (Whaddaya know... exactly that happened.)
5. ATF bosses rationalized (I won't dignify the excuses as "justification") the program of letting gun illegally flow to another country as an investigation of the big crime bosses in Mexico (as opposed the ATF/DOJ/etc crime bosses).
6. Yet somehow, they "neglected" to tell the Mexican authorities about this "investigation". (Which makes it difficult to believe they were trying to track cartel bosses in Mexico.)
7. Even more, they specifically kept even ATF personnel in Mexico (who presumably should have been handling the US portion of any such imaginary investigation in Mexico) in the dark.
8. All the while, the ATF (and assorted pro-crime groups like Brady) have been pointing at this supposed iron river of illegal guns into Mexico and claiming it as an excuse to crack down on firearms sales to honest folk (who clearly exclude those ATF weasels making decisions, along with their crime cheerleaders like Brady).
9. F&F "Gunwalker" guns have been implicated in the deaths of US federal agents in the US and Mexico. (Gee, just like predicted.)
10. When a Senator noticed and demanded questions of AD Melson, said acting dickhead ignored it, and a DOJ scumbag sent Sen. Grassley a vaguely threatening letter and refused to answer questions.
Still with me?
11. ATF whistleblowers (and please, guys, you seem to be decent people; go get honorable jobs) provided documentation to Grassley, and then to CBS which aired the problem where it couldn't be ignored any longer. (Finally!)
12. Obama announces neither he nor already implicated AG Holder authorized this breach of law and international treaties, that someone lower in the food chain made US international policy on their own. (Suuuuuuure.)
OK, did I miss any major points?
Now can someone (that includes the feds reading this) explain why this looks more like a political operation to justify more US "gun control" than it does an honest investigation that simply went a little bit wrong? Anyone? Mr. Bueller? Melson?
Scratch that; it doesn't look AT ALL like an honest investigation. An honest investigation would have involved... you know... INVESTIGATING in Mexico. Investigation by Mexican and US LEOs... WHO WERE DELIBERATELY KEPT OUT OF IT. (Sorry about the caps, but it seemed called for.)
Finger pointing? Yeah...and as usual, Hussein and Holder are using the MIDDLE finger.
So will this be the Hussein Regime's gambit...have a few underlings declare the mission to have been a foolish failure, find one or two lackeys to pin it on and move on to the next scheme to attack the right to keep and bear arms? Wouldn't surprise me a bit.
It was a very bad plan and with the worst of intentions, "We" know that this was an attempt to doctor the statistics of the arms going to Mexico. So that the Guberment could have a "reasonable cause" to initiate more infringements on the Second Amendment and in doing so have more Control of the American Population.
I am sure that this Plot goes all the way to the White House and Obama,as I believe that most of the Threeper Community are as well.
Thank G-d, that Mike and David found out about it and were able to get Senator Grassley's Staff interested in contacting the Agents that were willing to come forward and give Testimony and Evidence of this Hideous Plan.
Mike and David, I thank you for all the work that you have done in bringing all this to the light of day and the public eye. Although you will probably not recive much reconition in the MSM, "We" all know who to thank.
Dennis
III
Texas
If there are any shredder sales people out there, They may be needing some heavy duty ones here shortly!
Any ATF agent with knowledge of this incident and considers themselves to be honorable men and women must do the right thing and blow the whistle. If they don't, they are condoning what has happened and giving the green light to the leadership to continue their evil ways.
Then, and only then, go get an honorable job. Be assured, if you stay, the evil leadership you 'work for' will use you and throw you away like dirty bathwater when they please. You will be alone, disgraced and out of work.
Signed,
A Disgusted American
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