Fast and Furious? More Like 'Dumb and Dumberer'

The more I read about the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious, the more furious I get, and fast. It was a breathtakingly insane concept from the start, so obviously misguided on its surface alone. The idea that we would conduct a “reverse-sting” operation and intentionally allow weapons to fall into the hands of criminals and drug cartels is mind numbing. The one and only, guaranteed-to-happen outcome…that these weapons actually would be used to commit crimes – to kill people – had to have been known in advance. That fact alone is a crime.

The only good thing about the operation was that its creators chose a movie title to name it. That decision lends itself to all sorts of comparisons, but the one I find most apt is the 2003 movie, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd. In our present case, we could rename it Dumb and Dumberer: When Barry (Obama) Met Eric (Holder).

There’s a scene in the movie in which Lloyd informs Harry that he just traded their van for a scooter. Harry looks at him and says, “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!”

I can picture Eric Holder in the Oval Office advising President Obama that he just approved flooding the criminal underground with weapons (you know, those things liberals detest). Barack Obama scratches his chin just before saying that exact same movie line in response.

It would be hilarious if the issues involved in Fast and Furious weren’t so serious and sobering. Some 2,000 weapons purchased in the Phoenix, AZ area were “allowed” to cross into Mexico while the ATF looked the other way. The Justice Department’s sterling idea was to track the guns to see how they flowed to cartels and criminals. But the ATF couldn’t even do that right, and they lost sight of scores of weapons.

Some of these weapons turned up at crime scenes in both Mexico and the United States, and in the most disturbing incident, two of the F&F guns were found at the scene where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered south of Tucson in December 2010. Fox News reported recently that a third F&F gun had been found at the crime scene, contradicting federal officials who insisted there were only two.

The Terry murder was not the only U.S.-based crime in which F&F guns have been found. Arizona authorities revealed that two F&F guns were found in the possession of two Mexican men who assaulted Phoenix detectives in 2010.

The Justice Department apparently forgot to mention that crime. One wonders what else Harry and Lloyd have failed to tell the American people and Congressional investigators. I suspect the stonewalling has everything to do with the fact that Operation Fast and Furious began and continues under the Obama administration, so they cannot blame President George W. Bush for this one.

Operation Fast and Furious is an outrage – frankly, it’s a criminal act. While it is important for Congressman Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley to continue their F&F investigations, perhaps it’s time for a Special Prosecutor to be appointed. Someone has blood on his hands, and it’s time to turn up the heat. With the full force of a criminal probe, we need to ensure real justice prevails and that those who knew about and approved of this murderous criminal enterprise are made to account for their actions.

Mike Angley is the award-winning author of the thriller series, the Child Finder trilogy. He is a retired USAF Colonel and 25-year career Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI). Follow him on Twitter: @MikeAngley, FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.angley, and visit his website: www.mikeangley.com.