Spare Some “Fast and Furious” Anger for Mexican Cartels

What if it wasn’t a “Fast and Furious” gun that was used to kill US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near Rio Rico, Arizona that fateful day in December 2010?

It’s the question no one is asking, and the concept that everyone is ignoring. In the meantime, members of Congress, federal and local law enforcement, pro-gun and anti-ATF activists, and much of the American public is focused on skewering the ATF and Department of Justice—in many cases, rightfully so—for a botched operation designed to identify Mexican arms smugglers.

Operation Fast and Furious was initiated by the ATF in mid-2009 as a sort of sting operation. It was designed as an attempt to identify the people at the highest levels of Mexican weapons smuggling organizations by knowingly allowing their hired hands to buy guns in the US, then smuggle them into Mexico. The ATF intended to track these guns to their final destinations and hopefully make some arrests.

But many things went horribly wrong. The ATF started to lose track of hundreds of guns they allowed law-abiding gun shops to sell. Fast and Furious guns started showing up at crime scenes across Mexico, and were also being seized in the US. What really brought the operation into the public eye was the fact that two Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene where Agent Terry was killed.

However, the tiny—and crucial—fact that all these people fail to remember is that the gun that was actually used to kill Agent Terry was never found, and as such, no one knows if that gun was part of the Fast and Furious program, or if it came from a different gun shop in the US that was never part of the program, or if it came from a non-US source altogether.

When Mexican cartels want to purchase weapons in the US, they hire US citizens with clean records and no criminal history—called straw men—to buy those guns for them. They go to gun stores, pawn shops, and gun shows with a cartel laundry list and buy these guns legally, more or less. They only thing they do wrong is lie on an ATF form where it asks if the guns they’re purchasing are for personal use; obviously, they’re not. Once they have the guns in hand, they pass them off to a middle man, and their part in the deal is done.

This was the critical part in the Fast and Furious operation that is coming under fire. The vast majority of American gun sellers will immediately call the ATF when they detect a suspicious transaction by a possible straw buyer. Under Fast and Furious, for at least a year the ATF directed these gun sellers to allow the transactions to take place—called letting the guns “walk”—and often with much protest by the seller.

After the guns are handed off, the middleman distributed the guns to multiple couriers, who then spread out along the various ports of entry on our southwest border with Mexico. Since Mexican authorities don’t inspect inbound traffic and our Customs and Border Protection agents are charged with inspecting only ten percent of outbound traffic, the couriers’ odds of success in smuggling the guns into Mexico is very high.

Once the guns arrive at their final destinations in Mexico, they’re usually stored at stash houses or warehouses for later use by cartel assassins or smugglers. This is another crucial point to understand: it’s highly likely that Fast and Furious guns were mixed in with non-Fast and Furious guns in various storage locations across Mexico. When the smugglers in the group that confronted Agent Terry and his partners picked (or were provided) the guns they had with them that December day, they received them randomly from probably a large selection of mixed firearms.

In other words, had Fast and Furious never existed, those bandits still would have had guns that day, and they still would have killed Agent Terry.

It’s easy to suggest that Fast and Furious was directly responsible for his murder, and to indict all of ATF and the Department of Justice for it. We’re a nation that holds people accountable for their negligent actions, and people want to be able to point the finger at someone identifiable for his tragic death. The ATF and many in the DOJ certainly engaged in abysmally poor decision-making, and there’s no doubt that high-level heads will - and should - roll. Despite being well intentioned, Fast and Furious was poorly conceived and should have been halted long ago.

But the real murderer of Agent Terry is a Mexican smuggler. He will likely never be identified, and the gun he used to kill Terry will likely never be found and traced. This fact is unacceptable to many because people in the accountability business hate not having an answer, or a real person to point their fingers at. The people ultimately associated with Fast and Furious will hopefully be held accountable for their negligence.

But Congress and our law enforcement agencies absolutely cannot lose sight of the fact that we are fighting a war with Mexico against savage cartels who will stop at nothing—including the murder of American agents—to continue raking in billions of dollars in drug profits. They’re the real enemy, and some anger and energy needs to be spared so Congress and US law enforcement agencies can truly focus on stopping them.

 

Comments

[Hugo]

Sylvia-

I have tremendous respect for your efforts, but I have to disagree with your conclusion (spare some anger for those responsible for F&F).

As a person who spends 6 months of the year in Mexico (until this year), my life was definitely endangered by the actions of the US government's misguided actions.

As I drove back to the US past year, I worried constantly about how much the intentionally increased number of weapons due to F&F would endanger me and my family... who would not? And who would not be angered by that?

Also, it's naive to think that F&F was out of control by accident. Consider the earlier promotion of the idea that "90% of guns in Mexico are from the US" by the likes of Hilary Clinton.... absolute garbage, spread for the sole purpose of closing gun shops. That "fact" was in danger of being discredited... until actions were taken by the BATF to make it so, in F&F.

[Neglected War]

It's difficult not to feel anger for Fast and Furious.

It is true that the one who pulled the trigger was a drug cartel member.

It is true that the weapon that killed agent Terry isn't there to verify it was part of Fast and Furious.

What is true is that the deaths of 200 people have been linked to those weapons; each one of those as important and as sad as agent Terry's case.

In those 200 cases the weapon was recovered. How many deaths are related to weapons that were never recovered?

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Neglected War and @Hugo - But who pulled the trigger in those 200 cases? And wouldn't those deaths still have occurred with other weapons had F&F never existed? I find it incredibly ironic that the pro-gun lobby LOVES the mantra that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Yet so many people are blaming the F&F guns for these deaths instead of the Mexican narcos who are using them.

[Neglected War]

A trafficker pulled the trigger, but who put the weapon on those hands?

Most of those deaths wouldn't have occurred. In the case of Mexico, where guns are forbidden, the moment you give a gun to a man, you create a gunman.

The ultimate responsible is the one who pulled the trigger, but the one who creates the conditions shares responsibility.

The one who pulls the trigger is called assassin. The one who provides the weapon is called accessory to murder.

[Kelly Curtis]

I'm "Pro Gun", but sadly yes, a gun took that agents life. I live in Yuma, and have friends who were shot at while building the new fence. It is everywhere. What I'm tired of, is Mexico's whining about the number of guns "flowing south", but they do ZERO about it. Well, except cry and point fingers. Now when you drive in to Mexico the US searches your car GOING IN, as well as coming out. But as soon as you pass the check point, the Mexicans don't even look at you! Why are they not filling these border check points with their agents looking for these gun? Why do they not ask us for gun/cash-sniffing dogs to help find them? Why are they not searching the cars for the cash? Oh yah, I forget how corrupt they are. And I mean, everyone! If they (Mexican officials) "found" the guns hidden in the car, it would end their life. If they found cash, it would get split up between the workers that day (then end their life). To me, it shows that they (Mexico's Government) just doesn't care. We search everyone going in to Mexico for guns and cash, and search everyone coming out for drugs (and a long list of other things). They look for NOTHING. Face it, Mexico will get guns. We are the path of least resistance, but there are many paths. Mexico is stuck in a situation created by corruption and greed. They see what is in their pocket today instead of what could be in the bank in a few years. It's sad, and the honest hard working people who are left are getting hurt the worst. Remember that guns are illegal in Mexico, and that means the bad guys will always have the guns, and defending yourself is an impossibility. From a different angle, F&F looks like an attempt to show everyone how bad guns are, how easy they are to get, and a platform to say "See, we should outlaw them all together!". But it exploded in their faces. Guns don't kill people, bad people use guns to kill people. And knives, ropes, zip ties, chainsaws...........yada yada yada.

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Neglected War - I'm sorry, but I think it's naïve to think that most of those deaths wouldn't have occurred. Do you really believe that those killers would have not obtained guns elsewhere? Remember, they get their guns from stash houses across Mexico, which contain guns from several different places. If you believe the NRA, most of the guns in those stash houses come from within Mexico and central America. There are also tens of thousands of non-F&F guns floating around Mexico - F&F only contributed 2,000. To say those guys never would have become hitmen or taken money from a cartel to kill other people under orders if F&F had never existed is illogical.

[Slow POKEY]

It's become all to obvious "The purpose of F&F was to create a false crisis for political gain, as part of Obama's notorious "under the radar" anti-gun campaign."

And I believe F & F show's the real racism of the Obama administration, they didn't care how many Mexicans were killed in there quest for there anti-gun political agenda.

Yes we are at war and there are a lot of weapons out there I would like to offer 2 articles on none U.S. sources.
http://www.insightcrime.org/criminal-activities/arms-trafficking/item/1774-weapons-ammo-stolen-from-honduras-police-warehouse

http://insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1827-3000-guns-disappear-in-honduras

[Rod]

Sylvia, I agree that the ultimate responsibility for the deaths caused by the 2000 F&F guns smuggled lie with the carteleros and that they have access to a virtually unlimited supply of non-F&F weapons from the US and other countries.

However, that does not absolve the responsibilty of the ATF for it's incredibly stupid program. This undercover operation (UCO) was presumably devised and approved at the Phoenix field office level, then appoved again at the ATF HQ level. Then after the program began and it was clear that the UCO operatives were losing control of the weapons and unable to monitor their whereabouts, ATF field office and HQ failed to take decisive action to change or halt the program.

It was only after the weapon was found at agent Terry's crime scene that it was untenable for ATF to keep the lid on a failed program.

Whether a specific F&F weapon was used to harm agent Terry is less significant then the fact that individuals who have the intent and desire to attack US Border Patrol agents are using F&F weapons.

This type of management failure at ATF HQ level makes it difficult for us to credibly criticize the Mexican government for it's law enforcement failures.

[Rattlesnake Shake]

Let's not forget that ATF (and the government in general) has a stake in rising crime levels. It's why they get paid. And if a promotional operation like F&F also furthers the suspicion of Second Amendment freedoms, then two birds with one stone. Of course, there's always the risk of getting caught, but in a society where everyone is guilty of something, the potential for deterring consequences is low.

Let's face it. If every American source for Mexican drug guns was pinched off today, by next week they'd be unloading a ship packed with AK47s in a major port city. And if by some miracle this was prevented, two months later, a factory would be set up deep in the Mexican mountains to produce the things, with critical parts shipped in from any number of cash-poor failed states. If US guns play a role at all, it's primarily a result of criminal intent such as F&F.

It's worth remembering it was ATF, under a previous gun-hating administration, who also brought us the Branch Davidian nightmare. Waco began as a less ambitious, but similarly-themed, fund-raising operation aimed at creating distrust of a fundamental constitutional American right.

I'm astounded and saddened by the naïveté of the American people and their willingness to continue admiring the emperor's clothes.

[hugh]

First you have to understand that there was no attempt to follow the guns anywhere. With that not just said but fact, you have to look else where to find the reason for F&F as it was not to trace guns. The most likely answer comes from Eric Holder and the DOJ as at the same time that F&F was going on the DOJ had a propaganda campaign going on that stated that 90% of the guns going to the cartels were from US gun dealers. ask your self if that makes sense? Well it dose if your true motive is to destroy the second amendment of the US constitution. One other question you should ask your self is should the people of the US give up there right to have and bear fire arms to a government that is willing to be a party to murder and violate crime to get there political way? No is the answer as there is no difference between them and the people they have chosen as partners in crime.