Gov’t’s Gun Scheme: ‘Loads of Weapons … for Criminals Was The Plan’

Thursday, June 16, 2011
By Susan Jones and Terence P. Jeffrey

A fence erected by the federal government to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in San Miguel, Ariz. (AP photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(CNSNews.com) – John Dodson, a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday that he was shocked when he discovered his agency was carrying out a plan specifically designed to deliver “loads of weapons” into the hands of criminals, including operatives purchasing guns for Mexican drug cartels

“This is not a matter of some weapons that had gotten away from us or allowing a few to walk so that we could follow them to a much larger, more significant target,” Dodson told the committee. “Allowing loads of weapons that we knew to be destined for criminals was the plan, this was the mandate.” Read More: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/dodson-video

Plan to Let Drug Cartels Buy Guns in U.S. Approved at ‘Highest Levels’ of DOJ

Soldiers stand guard during a media presentation of a weapons cache that includes 154 rifles and shotguns and over 92,000 rounds of ammunition, in Mexico City, Friday June 3, 2011. Army Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas said Friday the weapons were found in “a subterranean stockpile” at a ranch near the northern city of Monclova this week. Authorities believe the weapons belonged to the Zetas drug cartel. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

(CNSNews.com) – Instead of trying to stop the flow of weapons from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels, the Obama administration’s “Operation Fast and Furious” deliberately allowed it to happen. Moreover, “This shift in strategy was known and authorized at the highest levels of the Justice Department,” says a report by congressional staffers.
“Through both the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona and ‘Main Justice’ headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Department closely monitored and supervised the activities of the ATF,” the report says.
On Wednesday, Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, convened a hearing to determine who ultimately authorized the Operation Fast and Furious, who knew about it – “and why it took the murder of a 40-year old border patrol agent and a congressional inquiry before administration officials cancelled it.” Read more: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/atf-gun-tracking-probe-approved-highest

Assistant AG: ‘I Do Not Know’ Who Authorized Plan to Let Drug Cartels Get Guns

Friday, June 17, 2011
By Edwin Mora

Ronald Weich, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs at the Justice Department, told the House Oversight and Government Reform Commitee on Wednesday that he does not know who authorized the Justice Department’s “Operation Fast and Furious” which deliberately let operatives of Mexican drug cartels purchase guns at licensed U.S. firearms dealers and did nothing to intercept the gun purchaser or retrieve the guns even when they were under active surveillance by federal law enforcement officials.

Pressed repeatedly by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) to say who at the Justice Department authorized the operation, Weich finally responded, “I do not know the answer to that question, and the (Justice Department) inspector general is reviewing the matter.” Read more: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/assistant-attorney-general-i-do-not-know