THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 97, May 6, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
IS FAST & FURIOUS THE NEXT WATERGATE?
By Alan Caruba
OPERATION FAST & FURIOUS: A GUNRUNNING OPERATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE U.S.-MEXICAN BORDER -- ILLEGAL ARMS TRAFFICING AUTHORIZED,
AIDED, & ABETTED BY EXECUTIVE AGENCIES OF THE U.S. NATIONAL GOVERNMENT -- A CALCULATED & LETHAL DECISION OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
TO PURPOSELY PLACE THOUSANDS OF GUNS IN THE HANDS OF RUTHLESS CRIMINALS, NAMELY, THOSE OPERATING MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS -- A DECISION
THAT HAS RESULTED IN THE MURDER OF A U.S. BORDER PATROL OFFICER, AN IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT AGENT, & COUNTLESS MEXICAN
CITIZENS -- METICULOUS DOCUMENTATION OF A STORY OF CRIME & INTIMIDATION THAT SHOULD RESULT IN CONTEMPT-OF-CONGRESS ACTION AGAINST U.S.
ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER & POSSIBLY U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JANET NAPOLITANO AS WELL -- CORRUPTION, ARROGANCE, &
TYRANICAL MANAGEMENT ENDEMIC TO THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
FULL STORY:
When suspects in a crime are interrogated, they often develop memory loss. When the crime is running guns to drug cartels on both sides of the border, the crime
involves the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol officer, Brian Terry; Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Jaime Zapata; and countless Mexican citizens.
Katie Pavlich has written an extraordinary expose, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and its Shameless Cover-Up (Washington, D.C.:
Regnery Publishing, 2012). Pavlich -- a reporter with extensive contacts within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) -- has meticulously
documented a story that should result in contempt-of-Congress action against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and possibly U.S. Secretary of Homeland
Security, Janet Napolitano as well.
It is an appalling story of arrogance, stupidity, and the intimidation of ATF agents who dared to question and expose the operation. It is a story of deception at the
highest levels of our national government. Both Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano exhibited memory lapses before a congressional committee. Both knew about a
U.S. government-authorized gun-running operation to Mexico called “Fast and Furious.”
Pavlich reports that “Fast and Furious was closely followed by U.S. Department of Justice officials. On multiple occasions, U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke met with
Phoenix ATF Director Bill Newell to discuss the progress of the Fast and Furious operation. ‘There were DOJ attorneys and prosecutors who were involved in this
since the beginning, giving advice,” testified ATF Special Agent Peter Forcelli.
As Pavlich details it, “Operation Fast and Furious wasn’t a ‘botched’ program. It was a calculated and lethal decision to purposely place thousands of guns in the
hands of ruthless criminals.”
The operation was designed to attack the Second Amendment right of Americans to purchase and bear arms, a right considered so essential to the nation that it
followed directly after the First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of the press, the prohibition of the establishment of a nationally sanctioned religion, and
the right of Americans to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
We are in the grip of an administration that would restrain and erase those rights, and which engaged in a reckless and ruthless operation to achieve that goal. It is
an administration that is moving toward the confirmation of a United Nations treaty that would override and eliminate the right to own and bear arms.
The facts regarding Holder’s and Napolitano’s testimony are clear:
“Eric Holder was sent five memos, personally addressed to him, in the Summer of 2010 that detailed Operation Fast and Furious.” Holder claimed he first knew about
the program in February, 2011.
“Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has feigned ignorance when questioned about Fast and Furious. She claims she only found out about the program
after Brian Terry was murdered.”
“She visited the White House with Eric Holder to visit President Obama just a day before Holder testified on Capitol Hill about Fast and Furious, leaving the reason
for her visit blank.”
Pavlich writes:
“These are the facts: There are still 1,400 Fast and Furious guns missing,
and ATF agents are not actively trying to track them down. Ten
thousand rounds of ammunition were sold to cartel-linked straw buyers
under the watch of the ATF. Eight hundred of the original 2,500 weapons
sold through Fast and Furious have already been linked to criminal
activity.”
The program, observers believe, was the deliberate effort to blame the violence in Mexico and, in some cases, in America on the gun shops, but those shops were
intimidated into participating in Fast and Furious out of fear that ATF would take away their licenses.
After questioning ATF and Justice Department witnesses, Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa - Republican), the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee,
wrote a January 31, 2012, letter to ATF officials saying, “As you may be aware, obstructing a congressional investigation is a crime. Additionally, denying or
interfering with employees' rights to furnish information to Congress is also against the law.”
On May 3, 2012, Representative Darrell Issa (Republican - California), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent every member of his
committee a 64-page draft contempt order against AG Holder, along with a 17-page memo outlining the history of the scandal. Only one attorney general has been
found in contempt -- Janet Reno in 1975.
Fast and Furious is redolent with memories of the Watergate coverup.
On March 23, 2011, in a Univison interview, Obama said, “First of all, I did not authorize it” and, when further pressed, said, “Eric Holder did not authorize it.
He’s been very clear that our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them in jail.” The facts strongly suggest otherwise, insofar as Fast and Furious literally
authorized a gunrunning program under the aegis of ATF.
As Pavlich noted:
“Many people in ATF saw what was happening and tried to warn the
Bureau, but the new corrupt and arrogant culture of management had
become too powerful and intimidating. Field agents who spoke up
were punished for having an opinion and daring to voice it.
Whistleblowers had their reputation, careers, and finances shattered.”
This culture of corruption is endemic to the Obama administration and, as more and more examples become known, it has been in full panic mode to suppress the truth.
No matter what the outcome of the testimony of two of its top appointees, the only way to save America is to vote out President Obama in November and ensure that
Mitt Romney has a Republican Congress.
© Alan Caruba, 2012
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Criminal Justice Policy Issues
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
American Government & the U.S. Congress:
Congressional Legislative Politics & National Public Policy
Terrorism & Homeland Security
Civil Liberties -- American Constitutional Rights & Liberties:
The Basic Rights & Liberties of Americans
Under the U.S. Federal & State Constitutions
Personal Rights & Liberties -- Issues Relating to
Individual Rights & Liberties under Natural & Civil Law
Latin America -- Economics, Politics, Political Regimes,
& Relations with the United States of America:
Problems & Opportunities for the U.S.A.
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at Warning Signs, his popular blog -- and thereafter on dozens of other
websites and blogs. His monthly report on new books is posted at Bookviews.
A business and science writer, Caruba is the Founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information
about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and public policy.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIV, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity