ATF's "fast And Furious" Program Showed Early Signs Of Failure

Photo: Gun experts at the tracing center set aside for study some of the firearms most commonly seen in ATF field offices in Texas and, consequently, in crimes along the border. Andrea Vasquez For the Chronicle

ATF's Gun Surveillance Program Showed Early Signs Of Failure -- L.A. Times

Just a few months into Operation Fast and Furious, an agency official called for a strategy to shut down the program aimed at following guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Reporting from Washington — In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

Five months into the surveillance effort — dubbed Operation Fast and Furious — no indictments had been announced and no charges were immediately expected. Worse, the weapons had turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the ATF official was worried that someone in the United States could be hurt next.

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My Comment: Heads should roll .... but I doubt that anyone is going to get fired. For an interesting opinion on what may/was/is the CIA's role in "Fast and Furious", go here.