Post by elalacran on Jun 22, 2012 8:56:08 GMT -5
Operation Fast and Furious was a failure.
First, of the 2000 guns fed across the border, 1300 were lost, who knows where. The object was to track them, right? Not to lose them?
Second, an American got killed by one of the guns. It would have been all right if a Mexican were killed, I suppose, as long as he or she was not rich or famous and just another statistic in the drug wars.
Hypocrisy and hubris. Assuming things go as planned in a world where Murphy's Law is king.
But there is another hypocrisy at work here. Here's my reply to an editorial in the local newspaper.
Where I really disagree with your editorial is when you said this:
"...But it’s no longer a policy discussion when a government operation results in the arming of drug cartels and the deaths of countless Mexicans and at least one American."
You speak as though the 1300 missing fast and furious guns were a significant step in "arming...drug cartels." They were not. They were a drop in the bucket. Statistically negligible.
For pete's sake, upwards of 600,000 firearms are stolen from U.S. citizens each year and tens of thousands from dealers, according to mayorsagainstillegalguns.org.
Without fast and furious, we are still the major firearm supplier to the cartels, whether the guns are bought new in the states or are stolen. Fast & Furious' contribution to the arms flow was miniscule.
This operation was the converse of chemically tagging drug shipments bound for the USA to see where they would end up instead of confiscating or destroying them immediately. A legitimate law enforcement tool? Sure. Could someone be killed by an overdose? Sure. But there is so much dope coming in across the border that allowing some in has minimal marginal effect. Same with those F & F guns.
And it is hypocritical that legislators and citizens whose votes sustain the American arms industry and the private ownership of military style weapons many of which are stolen and end up in the hands of criminals north and south of the border are the same legislators and citizens who are screaming for blood over this. Their own hands are far from clean.
Furious about Fast & Furious? Had a gun stolen? No problems with Americans being armed to the teeth by AK-47s and military look-alikes? Then YOU TOO are a hypocrite responsible for arming the narcotrafficantes.
First, of the 2000 guns fed across the border, 1300 were lost, who knows where. The object was to track them, right? Not to lose them?
Second, an American got killed by one of the guns. It would have been all right if a Mexican were killed, I suppose, as long as he or she was not rich or famous and just another statistic in the drug wars.
Hypocrisy and hubris. Assuming things go as planned in a world where Murphy's Law is king.
But there is another hypocrisy at work here. Here's my reply to an editorial in the local newspaper.
Where I really disagree with your editorial is when you said this:
"...But it’s no longer a policy discussion when a government operation results in the arming of drug cartels and the deaths of countless Mexicans and at least one American."
You speak as though the 1300 missing fast and furious guns were a significant step in "arming...drug cartels." They were not. They were a drop in the bucket. Statistically negligible.
For pete's sake, upwards of 600,000 firearms are stolen from U.S. citizens each year and tens of thousands from dealers, according to mayorsagainstillegalguns.org.
Without fast and furious, we are still the major firearm supplier to the cartels, whether the guns are bought new in the states or are stolen. Fast & Furious' contribution to the arms flow was miniscule.
This operation was the converse of chemically tagging drug shipments bound for the USA to see where they would end up instead of confiscating or destroying them immediately. A legitimate law enforcement tool? Sure. Could someone be killed by an overdose? Sure. But there is so much dope coming in across the border that allowing some in has minimal marginal effect. Same with those F & F guns.
And it is hypocritical that legislators and citizens whose votes sustain the American arms industry and the private ownership of military style weapons many of which are stolen and end up in the hands of criminals north and south of the border are the same legislators and citizens who are screaming for blood over this. Their own hands are far from clean.
Furious about Fast & Furious? Had a gun stolen? No problems with Americans being armed to the teeth by AK-47s and military look-alikes? Then YOU TOO are a hypocrite responsible for arming the narcotrafficantes.