Bob Owens posts on a theory I've heard before, that Fast and Furious was less about "gun control" and more about playing sides with the cartels as part of a greater strategy. [Read]
It's not that I'm hostile to that line of thought--I'm interested in the truth. It's just--as I have told proponents of it--that none of my sources have offered this explanation, so I can't endorse it until I get something more directly credible than a defendant offering a desperate defense.
I guess I'll need to see what documents result from this to test against the hypothesis.
But to be clear: the initial "padding statistics" charge on Gunwalker came not from any "right wing bloggers." It was first made on CleanUpATF by one of the posters whom ATF's Chief Counsel's Office and Ken Melson had discussed applying standards of conduct disciplinary action against. Make sure you click on the sidebar graphic there to see the emails for yourself.
Bottom line: If a definitive US government/cartel cooperative effort is established, it would add a new dimension to--but not negate--the "more gun control" theory.
I agree David. I see possibilities for a couple of different larger conspiracy theories that could have been the true driving force behind this criminal enterprise, but as I pointed out in this column:
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the myth of the "Iron River" is dispelled by the fact that the F&Fd-up guns were so quickly noticed by analysts in Mexico. And it cannot be denied that the Obama administration has in fact used F&Fd-up to support a gun control agenda.
Whatever broader objectives might have been involved in F&Fd-up, bolstering their bogus "Iron River" claims was clearly an intentional component. --Jeff Knox, FirearmsCoalition.org
Nothing says that F&F could not have had multiple simultaneous objectives...
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That is true. What I have not seen is someone with inside knowledge come forward to say this was one of them except a highly suspect defendant with self-serving motives. I've tried not to involve myself overmuch in the debate on this because if there is substance to the cartel-supporting charges, we need to know the truth and not discourage those seeking it. By the same token, to see the "gun control" rationale dismissed by some in that camp as naive-- when whistleblowers and supporting communications offer corroboration for it-- requires me to point that out, and wonder when we'll see similar validation brought before Congressional investigators.
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