How does the selling of arms for American hostages versus the arming of Mexican Drug Cartels stack up in comparison?
Both are illegal.
The U.S. Government denied both operations until they knew the gig was up.
Both Administrations attempted to protect information through certain “legal” means.
So what’s the difference… let’s walk through it.
To call operation Fast & Furious stupid would be a profound understatement if indeed its mission was to “trace” guns heading to drug cartels. Why you ask? Because we did nothing to trace them. But that’s not all! We also paid for them… And, we made sure they got into Mexico.
The only aspect missing to this brilliant scheme is subsequent weapons training and a thin mint.
To call Iran-Contra stupid is missing the point. In fact, nobody called it stupid… only illegal and that is what the Left wanted in order to go after one of the most beloved Presidents (to this day) in American history.
Iran-Contra was pretty straight up. The CIA was selling arms to Iran in the hopes of securing the release of the U.S. hostages. They were then using the funds generated to bankroll the Nicaraguan Contras (which the Democrat controlled U.S. Congress had made illegal because their guys were Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas (The Socialist Party of Nicaragua)) in their fight against Socialism.
OK… Iran Contra had a beginning, middle and an end. Illegal, but comprehensible.
So where did Fast & Furious come from?
I recall being surprised that American guns were a problem in Mexico. Primarily because I stay pretty tuned in and had never heard of the problem prior to it being stated as such during a news conference held by the Obama Administration with the President of Mexico, Calderon. So, surprise… the drug cartels have decided that they needed to replace their crates full of brand new well-traveled AK-47’s and AK 74’s for the far better weapon platforms designed by Eugene Stoner. OK… I could understand that. Seriously, Colt makes a great rifle.
But the question remained in my mind, why purchase American made semi-automatic weapons and risk getting them across the border when any enterprising drug cartel member could do the job with the plentiful fully automatic Chinese and Russian rifles made to order and moved up through Latin America then dropped right at their doorstep?
There was also another question in my mind, if you were the aforementioned enterprising Mexican drug runner why wouldn’t you just kill the local militia and take their American made assault weapons that we, the U.S., freely sell to the Mexican government every year?
So why?
Well… why not? If someone (U.S.Taxpayer) is going to buy American rifles for you, then “magically” make sure they get across the border without interruption… and then make no attempt to track them… all the while ASKING FOR NOTHING IN RETURN… why not? They might be drug dealers, but they’re not stupid.
Clearly there must be an explanation. There must be another reason this Administration had in mind when initiating operation Fast & Furious. Even I cannot get my mind around these guys being that ham-fisted and moronic. May be, but doubtful.
But now that the President has evoked executive privilege, it has graduated from a profoundly stupid and sophomoric idea which could be solved by lots of transparency and some very public firing of a great many individuals in the BATFE, into a full-fledged scandal.
This has caused the group of voices asking questions to grow larger.
The real reason, whatever it may be, must be very harmful if it cannot be explained directly to the branch of government IN CHARGE OF THE OVERSIGHT of these agencies, which is the United States House of Representatives.
So, in conclusion, where is the “moral” outrage from the Left we saw with Iran Contra? Were are the cries’ for heads on pikes? Is it “circle the wagons” time for the Democrat Party and our homegrown Leftists?
Today we have the U.S. Government sending (not even selling) arms to bad guys… not for the reason of a possible release of Americans being held against their will or fighting the Socialist disease abroad, but instead for… nothing. Nothing. Nada.
At least we got something in exchange for the guns to the Iranians and money to the Contras… but the Left still insisted in shoving the white-hot poker up our collective national rear-ends… with televised hearings and prime-time exposes on how evil and senile Reagan was. Can’t forget to throw Ollie in there too.
So what are we getting here?
It’s beginning to feel like we’re getting a whole lot of nothing but all the shoving.
We’ll see.
makeaneffort 