At least 200 died from "Fast and Furious," says U.S. House committee chairman

The chair of a U.S. congressional investigating the "Fast and Furious" DEA arms sale program says that at least 200 persons have been killed by weapons which the federal agency allowed to be sold to Mexican drug cartels. The secret operation began in 2009 but came to a quick halt in January 2011, after it became public. In the interim over 2,000 military assault weapons were sold in the United States to straw purchasers working for the cartels, with the full knowledge of federal agents. Most of the sales occurred in southern Arizona, near the border. The director of the DEA and the U.S. Attorney for Arizona were forced to resign over the scandal earlier this year. http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/two-us-officials-quit-over-fast-and.html

The weapons were embedded with microchip tracking devices. The DEA plan was to track Mexican cartels and the weapons they used, of which about 1,400 remain unaccounted for. The U.S. government has admitted that during the administration of George W. Bush, another federal agency, Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, used an almost identical program called Wide Receiver. It is unknown how many weapons were sold to Mexican drug traffickers under the ATF program. In internal documents ATF agents referred to firearms sold during Wide Receiver as "weapons gone walking." Both president Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, have denied knowing about either program until Fast and Furious was exposed in January. But congressional Republicans point to documents suggesting that Holder must have known by October 2010, and perhaps as early as July.

Darrell Issa, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that at least 200 persons have likely been killed by the U.S. weapons, on both sides of the border. "These were weapons that our government permitted to pass (into the hands of criminals)," said Issa in a public statement.

Both Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver, which was in operation from 2006 to 2007, are the subjects of pending criminal investigations and are expected to result in indictments. President Obama has said that those responsible will be held accountable. The Mexican government has expressed dismay over the arms sales programs.

Fast and Furious:
http://mexicogulfreporter-supplement.blogspot.com/2011/11/two-us-officials-quit-over-fast-and.html;
and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/can-guns-really-walk-from-us-to-mexico.html;
and: http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/us-attorney-general-in-cross-hairs-over.html;
and: ; http://mexicogulfreporter.blogspot.com/2011/10/obama-will-stand-by-his-man-even-though.html.