Saturday, March 5, 2011

Way to go Texicans! Dallas Morning News editorial gets it: "There’s no telling how many people died from Project Gunrunner weapons."

The Dallas Morning News deserves maximum kudos for being the first editorial page to weigh in on the Project Gunwalker Scandal.

Federal gun-smuggling surveillance program backfires.

Disturbing recent news reports suggest that federal agents knowingly let arms buyers for Mexican drug cartels smuggle high-powered weaponry across the border, with deadly consequences for U.S. law enforcers. Mexican leaders have warned for years that lax U.S. enforcement of gun smuggling was fueling border-area violence, but they should be particularly disturbed to learn that, in some cases, weapons were being deliberately allowed to flow southward.

CBS News reported last week about Project Gunrunner, an operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track how weapons purchased in U.S. gun stores reached Mexican drug gangs. Had Gunrunner been a limited, tightly focused study, it might have provided useful intelligence to shut down major gun-smuggling operations. Instead, it went badly awry.

As CBS reported, nervous gun shop owners in Arizona phoned ATF, warning repeatedly that suspicious buyers were acquiring arsenals of AK-47s and .50-calibre rifles. Later, ATF’s own agents complained when senior-level officials pressed ahead with Project Gunrunner. One agent estimated 2,500 guns crossed the border into Mexico.

On Dec. 14, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in Arizona. The serial numbers of two AK-47 assault rifles found at the scene were traced to a smuggler under ATF surveillance.

In North Texas, at the same time, ATF agents were conducting another Project Gunrunner surveillance operation involving brothers Otilio and Ranferi Osorio. ATF and Drug Enforcement Administration officials organized the November undercover transfer of about 40 weapons believed to be destined for a Mexican drug cartel. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata was gunned down Feb. 15 in Mexico, ballistics tests and a partial serial number linked one weapon used in the shooting to Otilio Osorio. He was not arrested until Monday.

ATF Dallas division spokesman Tom Crowley said that at no time did weapons in the North Texas operation “walk into Mexico.” All 40 guns were seized in Laredo, he said.

Still, the fact that Osorio and others known to have smuggling connections remained free adds to our concern about Project Gunrunner.

As President Barack Obama and his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderón, made clear Thursday in Washington, cooperation is growing between the two nations to curtail gun smuggling. Both sides understand the deadly consequences when American guns reach murderous Mexican drug gangs.

ATF’s enthusiasm in expanding the fight is laudable. Its tactics, however, need radical revision. There’s no telling how many people died from Project Gunrunner weapons. ATF must provide a full accounting of the operation and explain what, exactly, were the benefits reaped from a program that appears to have directly fed Mexico’s gun violence and may well have contributed to two American law enforcement deaths.

12 comments:

WarriorClass said...

175 years ago today, day twelve of the siege of the Alamo, Saturday, March 5, 1836.

Colonel Travis drew a line on ground with his sword for all who will stand and fight with him. Mexican bombardment ends at 10:00 p.m.

WarriorClass
III
Texican

Dennis308 said...

Oct. 10: Otilio Osorio purchases Romarm-Cugir model Draco 7.62 pistol from gun shop south of Fort Worth.

Nov. 5: DEA and ATF coordinate undercover weapons purchase by an informant in North Texas.

Nov. 8: ATF informant meets with Osorio brothers and another suspect and arrange transfer of 40 weapons, including a dozen Romarm-Cugir model Draco pistols. No arrest occurs, but weapons are later seized in Laredo.

I still don't believe the Dallas ATF, even though"They Say" that there was almost a month before the purchase of the gun that killed Jaimie Zapata and the investigation of the Otilio Brothers,perhaps just covering their tracks better than the Assholes in Phoenix.

Dennis
III
Texas

Dennis308 said...

Please Mike, the correct word to use instead of Texicans is Tejanos,some Tejanos take offence to the "icans" it makes some of the Tejanos feel that their Contribution to Texas Independence has not been Appreciated.

Dennis
III
Texas

Dutchman6 said...

Done. But you must know that here in Alabama we refer to y'all as "Texicans." Started back when we sent the flower of our Southern youth in Shackleford's Red Rovers to help you win your independence and y'all surrendered them for slaughter at Goliad. Almost every family in the Tennessee River valley of Alabama went into morning after that one. We've been suspicious of Texicans ever since.

WarriorClass said...

Dennis308, Texicans refers to all Texans, while Tejanos is ethnic.

Mike's use of the word is correct.

WarriorClass
III
Texican

WarriorClass said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tejano

This refers to hispanic Texans.

Texican refers to all Texans.

WarriorClass
III
Texican

WarriorClass said...

Fannin was not a good general and was from Louisiana; no reason to be suspicious of us Texicans. My sympathies to all who fought under him.

WarriorClass
III
Texican

Tiki Jane said...

WarriorClass - the anniversary is tomorrow - March 6, the 13th day of the Siege of Alamo ("13 Days to Glory").

One of the men who stood with Travis was my kinsman, 25 year old William Henry Dearduff. He'd come from Tennessee to farm near Gonzales.

I don't know why Fannin took some of the actions he did, but I do know we hold Goliad as sacred ground.

Dutchman6 said...

OK, I'm convinced. I changed it back.

WarriorClass said...

Tiki Jane - I said day twelve, not thirteen. I am aware that tomorrow is the day the Alamo fell, day 13. I've been putting these comments for the last twelve days, noting each day of the siege of the Alamo. I also acknowledge Goliad as sacred ground, but Fannin's failures are inexplicable.

WarriorClass
III
Texican

Dennis308 said...

One, I am a Texan, not a Texican.
Two, there are so many Tejanos down here, and they are our friends and neighbors we kinda get sensitive about that stuff.

Mike alot of people came to help Texas gain her Independence,like you say and as Warrior Class pointed out not all of them were qualified to be the leaders they needed to be.

Dennis
III
Texas

tom said...

But Mike,

People were nice enough to later say "REMEMBER GOLIAD!" while slaughtering Santa Anna's Troopers a bit later on. We did better in that one than we did in the War of Northern Aggression. ;-)