Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Follow the Money...


I'm not feelin' Darrell Issa anymore.  I think the more he is in the spotlight, the more flaws we will see. 


Issa Launches Probe of Alleged DEA Laundering Operation in Mexico

I'll keep it short and simple.  You never let guns walk.  ATF's Operation Fast and Furious makes no sense, I've read all about it, and I have never read anything wherein an agent, supervisor, or prosecutor explained how that was going to work.  It just doesn't add up.

What the DEA is doing - is was needs to be done, and needs to be done more.   "Follow the money" Mr. Issa.  It is the best tool for fighting the Cartels.  And just from reading the article, you can see the DEA may have a big one:

They are involved in the shipment - so they know the means by which the money is physically moved.

They are involved in the laundering - so they know the manner in which it happens, and they can have an accounting.

They have been making seizures - so it looks to the cartels like business is usual, while not all the money is walking.



This was done with Colombian drug Cartels in the past - and it has led to changes in laws making it harder for Cartels to launder and spend their proceeds, it has lead to changes in monetary policy between countries, and it has lead to huge seizures of funds already outside of the United States.



Follow the money Mr. Issa...


[I get the feeling when Darrell was little, he was the kind of kid who would eat a whole bottle of vitamins - because if one vitamin is good...]

2 comments:

LL said...

Because I actually know where the guns went and DEA/ATF did not (meaning the end purchaser), I think you're wrong on this. I suspect that they know now, long after the fact, because I literally told them. However the truth would scare you and I'm not going to put it in a blog. I didn't know about F & F until I read about it in the paper and I had a similar reaction to yours.

However---

They let the guns walk, precisely the way the testimony came down.

The sad truth is that while the laundering laws put in place in Mexico are working to some degree, they are also not working, for reasons I won't specify here. But F&F was simply a goat-rope of Biblical proportions where the end in mind was 'proving' that firearms were moving from US gun stores to cartels, thus justifying much tougher domestic gun control legislation.

Because it was a political operation, not a law enforcement operation, and because ATF was running it, the case went off the rails from the very outset.

However, I might be just full of crap. Then again, maybe I'm not.

LL said...

US Law Enforcement has a very poor showing when they involve themselves in political matters such as F & F, with goals inconsistent with their reason for being. I understand why the Obama Administration would think that DOJ (with that toady, Holder in charge) would be the right place for that sort of clandestine operation because they have a dim understanding of how things work.

And it played itself out in a predictable way with a Congressional task force that will keep on digging it up.