China Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico ATF agent says "Fast and Furious" program let guns "walk" into hands of Mexican drug cartels with aim of tracking and breaking a big case (CBS News) WASHINGTON - Federal agent John Dodson says what he was asked to do was beyond belief. He was intentionally letting guns go to Mexico? "Yes ma'am," Dodson told CBS News. "The agency was." An Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms senior agent assigned to the Phoenix office in 2010, Dodson's job is to stop gun trafficking across the border. Instead, he says he was ordered to sit by and watch it happen. Investigators call the tactic letting guns "walk." In this case, walking into the hands of criminals who would use them in Mexico and the United States. Dodson's bosses say that never happened. Now, he's risking his job to go public. "I'm boots on the ground in Phoenix, telling you we've been doing it every day since I've been here," he said. "Here I am. Tell me I didn't do the things that I did. Tell me you didn't order me to do the things I did. Tell me it didn't happen. Now you have a name on it. You have a face to put with it. Here I am. Someone now, tell me it didn't happen." Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico. ATF named the case "Fast and Furious." Surveillance video obtained by CBS News shows suspected drug cartel suppliers carrying boxes of weapons to their cars at a Phoenix gun shop. The long boxes shown in the video being loaded in were AK-47-type assault rifles. So it turns out ATF not only allowed it - they videotaped it. Documents show the inevitable result: The guns that ATF let go began showing up at crime scenes in Mexico. And as ATF stood by watching thousands of weapons hit the streets... the Fast and Furious group supervisor noted the escalating Mexican violence. One e-mail noted, "958 killed in March 2010 ... most violent month since 2005." The same e-mail notes: "Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone," including "numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles." Dodson feels that ATF was partly to blame for the escalating violence in Mexico and on the border. "I even asked them if they could see the correlation between the two," he said. "The more our guys buy, the more violence we're having down there." Senior agents including Dodson told CBS News they confronted their supervisors over and over. Their answer, according to Dodson, was, "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs." There was so much opposition to the gun walking, that an ATF supervisor issued an e-mail noting a "schism" among the agents. "Whether you care or not people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case...we are doing what they envisioned.... If you don't think this is fun you're in the wrong line of work... Maybe the Maricopa County jail is hiring detention officers and you can get $30,000 ... to serve lunch to inmates..." "We just knew it wasn't going to end well. There's just no way it could," Dodson said. On Dec. 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down. Dodson got the bad news from a colleague. According to Dodson, "They said, 'Did you hear about the border patrol agent?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And they said 'Well it was one of the Fast and Furious guns.' There's not really much you can say after that." Two assault rifles ATF had let go nearly a year before were found at Terry's murder. Dodson said, "I felt guilty. I mean it's crushing. I don't know how to explain it." Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 :doh: great move, ATF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 ATF got slammed by an Inspector General's review of their Southwest Border efforts to stem illegal firearms trafficking into Mexico. The I.G. criticized ATF for mainly busting only low level straw-purchasers. So they develop this strategy in an attempt to get to the higher ups in the illegal firearms trafficking. Definitely risks involved, but they were trying to respond to the I.G. criticism by going after bigger fish. So ATF was caught in a no-win, damned-if-they do damned-if-they-don't situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbear Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Disgusting...the clear perpetuation of stupidity to send those guns off without a fairly full proff plan to recoup them. The comments at the end on conspiracy theories are a sad commentary as well. Is that really how most people think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooka Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 So ATF was caught in a no-win, damned-if-they do damned-if-they-don't situation. There's a win if the ATF actually took down a cartel or produced some kind of results.I'm hoping they did somewhere. This agent doesn't feel they did at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 This is hardly a new tactic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacase Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I wonder how they were actually going to take down a cartel? It doesn't make sense, how many guns do you have to go after before you have enough eveidence. I know we have let things go to other countries in the past, but from my experience, the item is always disabled to non working status before it is sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I never cease to be astounded by the collateral damage we create in our endless War on Drugs. If I was a Mexican I'd be really angry right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Next thing, we'll find out the CIA is selling crack to poor neighborhoods in southern California, to buy guns to give rebels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooka Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I wonder how they were actually going to take down a cartel? It doesn't make sense, how many guns do you have to go after before you have enough eveidence. Not easily:DEA: MEXICAN DRUG LORD INDICTED AND MORE THAN 240 INDIVIDUALS ARRESTED IN OPERATION TRIFECTA And this drug lord got away and is still at large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Thought occurred to me, while eating. Does this story actually imply that Mexican drug smugglers find it easier to get guns in the US, than to get them somewhere else? If so, I think it really says something about us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cept One Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Thought occurred to me, while eating. Does this story actually imply that Mexican drug smugglers find it easier to get guns in the US, than to get them somewhere else? If so, I think it really says something about us. Nope Mexico still gets the majority of its weaponry else where. http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110209-mexicos-gun-supply-and-90-percent-myth?utm_source=SWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110210&utm_content=readmore&elq=86f47d9bb75e479785623de22b5c40e5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Brave Little Toaster Oven Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Wow...way to go Obama :doh: (itll work, watch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Funny stuff happening that benefits drug cartels? No way. Tip of the iceberg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Thought occurred to me, while eating. Does this story actually imply that Mexican drug smugglers find it easier to get guns in the US, than to get them somewhere else? If so, I think it really says something about us. Of course it does and easily obvious. We've been doing things like this for a long time. ---------- Post added March-5th-2011 at 06:48 AM ---------- Wow...way to go Obama :doh: (itll work, watch) and Regan and Bush I and Clinton and Bush II....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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