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Bob Owens

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November 23, 2011 - 12:34 am
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No rational person can look at the evidence of how the operation was run and come to any conclusion except that this was intended to be a government-sanctioned weapons smuggling program expressly designed to arm the Sinaloa drug cartel.

The DOJ plot seems in line with fresh allegations that the federal government during Obama’s presidency has greatly increased official arms sales to Mexico, with many of the sales sending military weapons to the most corrupt portions of the Mexican government and military — who are then apparently selling the guns to the cartels. The implication is that U.S government in the Obama years is the number one supplier of cartel weapons:

From 2008 to 2009, when President Obama entered office, Defense Department expenditures to Mexico have increased from $12 million to $34 million and State Department expenditures increased from $7.2 million to $356 million. While 2010 data is currently unavailable, it appears our foreign aid to Mexico has continued to increase for 2011. These statistics imply the State and Defense Departments may very well be the top suppliers of small arms to Mexico’s drug cartels and not civilians. Only the information obtained from ATF Firearms Traces will tell. However, those records are not public. After the DOJ and the White House knowingly pursued attempts at new gun control legislation, we are left to ask the question; is this just another case of government stupidity or is this something more premeditated?

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Florida Republican Allen West has said if Holder doesn’t resign and President Obama doesn’t fire him, “then perhaps the president of the United States of America is also complicit in this horrible, tragic event of Operation Fast and Furious.” None of the Republican candidates have gone as far as Rep. West’s statement.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been largely silent, dodging the issue at first. Later, a spokesman said that if the attorney general is proven to have lied in front of Congress he should resign. Herman Cain, who is rapidly fading in the polls, had opined earlier this month that the 30 members of Congress then calling for Holder to resign “can’t be wrong.”

Second-tier candidates John Huntsman and Rick Santorum have also called for Holder to resign. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate to avoid taking a position on the scandal.

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Bob Owens blogs at Bob-Owens.com.

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29 Comments, 21 Threads, 6 Trackbacks

  1. “Florida Republican Allen West has said if Holder doesn’t resign and President Obama doesn’t fire him, “then perhaps the president of the United States of America is also complicit in this horrible, tragic event of Operation Fast and Furious.” None of the Republican candidates have gone as far as Rep. West’s statement.”

    West is right. What’s the alternative? If Holder really, really, didn’t know about this, then he wants you to believe that “some other people” within the Department of Justice simply ran their own operations that involved thousands of guns with another country that were directly involved in the deaths of an American border patrol agent and hundreds of Mexicans. You would think that if “these people within the DOJ” really existed, Holder would want to find them and fire them. Nope. As far as I can tell, nobody has been fired over this, let alone put on trial.

    Holder is a lying dog and should be fired. If not fired, Congress should vote to impeach him. And if that doesn’t work and Obama STILL supports this guy, then it certainly proves that Obama (and probably Clinton) knew about it and did nothing to stop it. Holder is dirty beyond belief in this and if Obama doesn’t fire him, Congress should.

    • Ron Nord

      Not one Democrat thinks this felonious conspiracy is worthy of recall, even Senator Feinstein’s anti-gun mouth is stapled shut apparently, it seems to make a difference to this anti-gun harridan if an accomplice in a criminal act that has ended in murder is Democrat or Republican. Just how many people were involved, could the felony conspiracy even of had Senator’s involved? Tax payer money was used to commit a crime and not one Democrat has come out on the side of law.

      • A320guy

        Yes, the democrats’ silence on all this is very incriminating.

      • kjatexas

        Absolutely correct. Expect to see massive, nationwide DOJ challenges in the 2012 election,, by the newly hired leftist attornies in the voting rights section.

    • Ralph

      Allan West is right all of them knew about it, they are afraid of losing their jobs come 2012. Issa needs to formerly charge this nut and start impeachment proceedings because Odumba isn;t going to fire him.

  2. In a few words: The entire administration is rotten to the core, and either
    the Congress or the Supreme Court or the two together, should disband the lot.
    God Save the USA !!!

  3. 3. eon

    Either Holder knew what was going on and approved it, or else he deliberately “distanced” himself from the operation(s) to give himself (and the President) “plausible deniability” if and when the operations came to light. (A similar arrangement apparently existed in the Iran-Contra scandal; does the name “Oliver North” ring a bell?)

    The difference is, of course, that Nicaragua, like it or not, was a hostile nation with a government (the Sandinistas) which openly declared its intention to attack the United States. (Never mind that they couldn’t figure out a way to do it; as the old saying goes, it’s the thought that counts- cf. al-Qaeda.)

    The Mexican government is nominally “friendly”, if you disregard the loons who babble about “reclaiming the Stolen Territories”- whom they really need to do something about, soon.

    Therefore, there is really no way to build a legitimate “casus belli” for arming the drug cartels, who amount to a revolutionary army threatening the central government. Which technically counts (as it did in Iran-Contra) as an act of war.

    The most bizarre part of the entire scheme is the belief that increasing the violence and use of “ugly guns” (i.e., semiautomatic so-called “assault weapons”), in Mexico, would help the Administration build a case for tougher gun control here. Especially considering that BATFE and other elements of DOJ had to violate literally dozens of existing U.S. state and federal firearms regulations to pull it off.

    As I have said before, there seem to have been several mutually-supporting agendas at work here;

    1. An effort to vindicate The One’s statement that 90% of guns used in the Mexican drug war come from the U.S. (After all, we can’t expect the Messiah to admit that He got His facts wrong, now can we?);

    2. A wish for more Draconian gun laws in the U.S. (So what if they had to break a bunch of the existing ones to attempt it? The end justifies the means, doesn’t it?)

    3. A desire for increased illegal immigration (and thus more “undocumented voters”) driven by the violence south of the Rio Grande (thereby assuring The One of re-election- hey, it’s the Chicago Way, and at this point He is in full-on Blago Mode); and/or

    4. Ultimately possibly even the replacement of the Mexican government with a more “user-friendly” one from the drug trade’s POV, thereby making legalization a feasible goal for the trendy progressives in BlueLand. (“We can’t stop it, so let’s make it legal! Got a problem? Hey, have a hit off this spliff, mannn.”)

    Exactly none of these “objectives” is realistic. In fact, three of the four are pure fantasy. But that seems to be irrelevant to the delusional academics, political thugs, and totalitarian wannabees who compose this “administration”.

    The only thing more noteworthy about this entire plot than its callousness toward the innocent people who have died, and will die, as a result of it, both in Mexico and here, is the total detachment from reality of those who planned and perpetrated it. To quote Ronald Reagan, we are dealing with people who are not only “on the left”, but who have left the understandable Universe.

    Come to think of it, that’s nothing more than an accurate description of a typical day in this Administration, on any subject.

    clear ether

    eon

    • Mr Nobody

      Breaking the law or series of laws just to prove a point made them all criminals, period.

  4. 4. PattyMor

    This whole administration is just riddled with corruption. And the fish rots from the head down. Operation Fast and Furious was a multi-agency operation. Its just unbelieveable to really think that it wasn’t coordinated from the top.
    And laughable that Holder did not read the reports.

    But it says more about the Republicans who voted to confirm Holder, the radical, as Attorney General. It tells me that they lack of judgement or their ability to read background materials and make informed decisions is flawed. This includes Alexander (TN), Chambliss (GA), Collins (ME), Corker (TN), Graham (SC), Grassley (IA), Hatch (UT), Isakson (GA), McCain (AZ), Murkowski (AK), and Snowe (MN). If you live in these states, how can you Republicans support these people?

  5. 5. JDGadsden

    “Second-tier candidates John Huntsman and Rick Santorum have also called for Holder to resign. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate to avoid taking a position on the scandal.”

    Any Ronulans want to comment? This is not a small deal, if the allegations are right the administration is targeting our second amendment rights through triangulation.

    • Anthony

      Dr. Paul issued a statement that was published on June 20. It is copied below.

      June 20, 2011 02:11 PM Eastern Time
      Ron Paul Issues Statement on ATF Gun Scandal

      LAKE JACKSON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, 2012 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul commented on the recent revelations about the federal government’s botched program to track gun sales. See statement below.

      “The ATF has a long history of abusing our Second Amendment rights, so I was glad to see Congressman Issa demanding answers on the Project “Gunwalker” scandal.

      “My hope is that the recent hearing will further expose the ATF’s and Attorney General Eric Holder’s assaults on law-abiding gun owners, and more people will start questioning the need for unconstitutional agencies like the ATF that exist solely to infringe on American citizens’ God-given right to keep and bear arms.”

  6. 6. STR

    Mr. Owens, someone at PJM needs to follow the story of the fatal Zeta drug cartel shoot-out outside MY mid-to upper- middle class neighborhood in Northwest Houston. I would not be surprised if the seized guns were a part of our local version of Operation Fast and Furious. This web of treason and unsecured borders is literally coming into our own yards whether we live right on the border or not.

    http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Zeta-soldiers-launched-Mexico-style-attack-in-2283370.php

  7. 7. kjatexas

    Holder will not quit and Obama will not fire him. The reason, Obama is involved in F&F up to his ears. They are both covering each others behinds. Holder keeps silent about Obama’s involvement in exchange for a Presidential pardon that will protect Holder from an incoming Republican administration.

  8. 8. NOBAMA 2012

    Only 14 more months ’til we remove the Marxist in the Oval Office & cancel “Amateur Hour” at the White House.

    NOBAMA 2012…Because America can’t afford 4 more years of Obama’s incompetence, lack of leadership & Marxist B.S.

  9. 9. Fred

    Keep up the good work Bob, shining the light on these cucarachas.

  10. 10. Don L

    Start the prosecuting and the impeachment -watch the fireworks – (It would be fun to watch the RINOs and bluedogs (curs) cringe at having to take a stand.

  11. 11. Blacque Jacques Shellacque

    One thing about this whole episode – no deals of any kind should be cut allowing him to avoid being prosecuted as a condition for resignation, unless there is evidence that this malfeasance goes all the way up to the top.

  12. 12. willis

    “Attorney General Holder should resign because of the mismanagement of “Fast and Furious.” … As the nation’s top law enforcement officer, he bears the responsibility for the actions of his department.”

    Why do prominent Republicans keep saying things like this. Holder did not mismanage anything. This is a criminal enterprise he engineered and managed it all too well.

  13. 13. Warlord

    When there is no law in the Justice Dept.,how does this look to the people who thieve? For some, seeing what is gotten away with by their government, it means there is such a thing as a license to steal.Public morality takes another blow.
    It would be prudent to wait until such time as an Obumma pardon is no longer
    possible.

  14. 14. styrgwillidar

    Resign my ass. He needs to be tried here in the US, then when we’re done with him, handed over to Mexico to answer for the hundreds that died under his program. Those families deserve justice.

    Holder and the DOJ/ATF/DHS/FBI leadership which co-operated in this need to be rotting in Mexican jails.

    • Dr. Frank Lippenheimer

      I’m with you. Resignation? Hell, I want he fitted for an orange jumpsuit. This guy has blood on his hands, and plenty of it.

  15. 15. dzrtnana

    What in the heck is it going to take to get this guy OUT. Geeeeezzzzz.

    I am REALLY having a hard time figuring this out. THIS CANNOT BE. Why can’t WE THE PEOPLE FIRE HIM TODAY? Very, very stupid….AND A WASTE OF TIME AND “OUR” MONEY.

  16. 16. RickGreenvilleSC

    Holder still being in office points to the complicity of the repugs in this whole sorry affair. . . . why aren’t they up in arms (as a body) DEMANDING action?
    Just another sign that our current gubmint is finished. Stock up on necessities and prepare to defend those you love. . . . the time for talking is about done

  17. 17. Danny Ross

    Are all of these people in the House of Representatives totally ignorant of the Constitution? If they believe that AG Holder is complicit in selling firearms to the drug cartels, then they should file Articles of Impeachment against him. Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution gives that power to them. If they are just flapping their lipss, then they should shut up.

  18. 18. Richard

    Never mind the resignation, demand prosecution for the deaths their actions caused, if we are to return to the rule of law the criminals must be prosecuted for their actions.

  19. 19. Tommy

    I actually prefer drag this out so that it finally makes it to Consensus Media.
    That way it will take down his boss with him.

  20. 20. Anthony

    Author, Ron Paul did take a stance and issued a statement on the subject. A simple Google search found the statement in just a few seconds. Research in journalism in prudent and responsible. Here is his statement as found on Business Wire

    June 20, 2011 02:11 PM Eastern Time
    Ron Paul Issues Statement on ATF Gun Scandal

    LAKE JACKSON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, 2012 GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul commented on the recent revelations about the federal government’s botched program to track gun sales. See statement below.

    “The ATF has a long history of abusing our Second Amendment rights, so I was glad to see Congressman Issa demanding answers on the Project “Gunwalker” scandal.

    “My hope is that the recent hearing will further expose the ATF’s and Attorney General Eric Holder’s assaults on law-abiding gun owners, and more people will start questioning the need for unconstitutional agencies like the ATF that exist solely to infringe on American citizens’ God-given right to keep and bear arms.”

  21. 21. berlet98

    The Various Cases Against Eric Holder

    The website for the Office of the Attorney General of the United States summarizes the purpose and function of the AG: He “represents the United States in legal matters generally and gives advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested.”

    Eric Himpton Holder, Jr., America’s 82nd attorney general, has failed to fulfill either the spirit or the letter of his office and both his actions and inactions have brought shame and disrepute to the Department of Justice.

    He must resign or be impeached.

    The AG’s duty of furnishing “advice and opinions” implicitly carries with it the understanding that that advice and those opinions are reasonable and lawful and that he conducts himself, his office, and his department in a manner reflecting respect for his duties which Mr. Holder has repeatedly failed to do.

    The latest offense committed by this attorney general is simply one of many in a long string of offenses, any one of which provides sufficient grounds for his removal. Combined, they raise the questions of why he was chosen for office in the first place and why he was not removed sooner.

    Pending the results of an ongoing congressional investigation, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has called on President Obama to dump his appointee because of Holder’s failure to remedy the ATF’s incompetent handling of its Fast and Furious Mexican gun-running debacle.

    Notably, Issa also pointed out that the problems aren’t confined to Fast and Furious but rather are “about a failure that seems to be pervasive within Justice that investigations play fast and loose with the expectations of what is right or wrong.”

    Translated, although the congressman is not yet alleging the attorney general ordered Fast and Furious, the “dumb program” which resulted in some 1400 weapons being given to Mexican drug lords and used to commit mayhem and murder in Mexico and along our border, Issa suggested Holder covered up the botching. (http://tiny.cc/6w18o)

    Rep. Issa is being kind and should have elaborated on the ”pervasive” inability of Eric Holder’s Justice Department’s to distinguish between right and wrong. That inability pre-dates Holder’s confirmation as attorney general and has been the hallmark of the DoJ ever since Holder assumed his position.

    If the cover-up of Fast and Furious isn’t sufficient to impeach Eric Holder, his record of racist statements and racist policies surely is.

    Holder tipped his racist hand even before he was confirmed as the nation’s first African-American attorney general.
    (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=8655.)

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