I have wanted to read this book since it came out; and for a
very good reason. Many people lay Operation “Fast and Furious”; the government
sponsored program in which guns purchased by “straw buyers” are allowed to
leave the country, supposedly to track their destination; at the feet of the
Obama Administration.
While it is true that the program of that name began under
his administration, the same program was already in operation during the Bush
Administration’s second term under the name Project “Gun Runner.” Much to his credit, author John Dodson does
point this out on page 146. It was operated by more than one government entity,
including the Blackwater Security group which was responsible for security in
Iraq. I know about this program because I had a personal “experience” with it
in late May 2007. But that’s for later…
John Dodson was working for the ATF in Virginia before he
transferred to Phoenix, Arizona to participate in what was being dubbed “Fast and
Furious.” He had no way of knowing about the true ramifications of the program.
He quickly learned. “Fast and Furious” was; at the best; a vehicle by which the
government aided and abetted the sale and transfer of automatic weapons through
“straw buyers”, who then transferred those weapons to criminals who were then
transferring those weapons to Mexico and the drug cartels in order to “track”
them and see where they were bound.
The other side of this equation is that nobody ever got
arrested and, in effect, the government was deputizing Federal Firearms
Licensees to sell the weapons to the suspected straw buyers. In most cases the firearms
dealers were the first to approach ATF about the bogus sales, which they wanted
to stop. But the ATF responded by enabling more and more weapons to leave the
country for Mexico with no tangible results to show. This infuriated Agent
Dodson, who was under the impression that the program was designed to stop the
trafficking of the illegal weapons.
On December 15, 2010 all of Agent Dodson’s fears about the
program were realized when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a
shootout with criminals whose weapons were traced directly back to “Fast and
Furious.” This was the straw which broke the camel’s back; the camel in this
case being Agent Dodson, who felt almost responsible for Brian Terry’s death.
At that point he teamed up with a journalist from CBS and embarked on a phase
of his life he had never even dreamt about. He was about to become a “whistle-blower.”
From the very first page of this book, and through the last
paragraph, this book chronicles the insanity that passes for intelligence at
the highest levels of our government. It is a world of acronyms and agencies
with strings of letters that never really identify their true purpose. With a
sharp pen Agent Dodson enumerates the times he tried to make his superiors
realize that they were actually legally culpable for the weapons they were allowing
to flow freely across the border. His superiors; concerned more with statistics
rather than actually fighting crime; continuously ignored his concerns; at
least until December 15, 2014 when it all “hit the fan.”
The story which follows is typical of the bureaucratic cover my ass syndrome which plaques the entire government, rendering it ineffective. And when someone like Agent Dodson does take steps to right the wrong, they are cast aside and sometimes even dismissed for their efforts.
The rest, as they say, is history. Mr. Dodson does a
credible job of chronicling the whole sordid affair, and does it in such a
manner that you can’t wait to get to the part where he has had enough. The
trials of being a whistle blower become evident to him immediately as he is systematically
ground up by the powers that be, placing his entire career in jeopardy for
telling the truth. Just like Anthony Snowden, Agent Dodson becomes a pariah.
There are those who would argue that Snowden’s revelations
might lead to the unintended death of one of our operatives overseas by an
agent of an enemy government, and that’s a valid point, though those “assets” are
fully aware of the risks that they run. This is not the same when it comes to people
like Brian Terry, or any of the other law enforcement personnel who go to work
each day expecting not to be killed with a weapon provided to the criminal by
their very own government.
This is the end of the review. The following is my own story concerning "Project Gunner."
And now, let’s go back to the beginning of this post and the story I have to tell about Project “Gunrunner.”
There are very few people who have not heard of John Dodson or the “Fast and Furious” program. But what many people don’t know is that this program was begun during the Bush administration in 2006 as “Project Gunrunner”, which was pretty aptly named, as that was the true purpose of the program; to run guns. The link between these two programs is clear; the United States is engaged in an effort to destabilize foreign governments. We have seen this in Iraq, and also Mexico.
In May of 2007 I was
on my way home from work in Hickory, travelling South on I-77 and passing
through Mooresville, N.C. At the time Blackwater was working for the Federal
Government in the capacity of providing “support” to the troops in Iraq. Their
excesses are widely known and chronicled. But some of the things they were
involved in were not related directly to the War in Iraq. Running guns was one
of those activities.
It was Memorial Day Friday and it seemed as if everyone had
hit the road for the 3 day weekend. I was driving a company provided pick-up
truck and thinking about the weekend when I got rear ended by a guy in a BMW.
Somehow, in spite of all the traffic, he managed to get around me after hitting
me, so that his car was in front of mine on the shoulder when the State Police
arrived 20 minutes later.
During that time I was offered cash to take care of the
damage and I noticed that the driver was intoxicated. I explained to him that
it was a company vehicle and the decision was not mine to make. He then
proceeded to show me his identification and asked if I had heard of Blackwater.
I replied that I had but that it did not alter the fact that he had hit my vehicle
and that no amount of cash; or muscling; would alter that fact.
When the Trooper arrived I explained what happened and that
the other driver was drunk and had offered me money if I would allow him to
leave the scene. The trooper then went to interview the other driver and what
happened next still has me shaking my head in wonder.
He showed the trooper some identification which he had not
shown me and the whole atmosphere of the situation changed. The officer was
joking and laughing with the other driver and they both went to his trunk,
which the driver proudly opened, displaying an array of automatic weapons and
high capacity ammunition clips. No boxes, just loose weapons and cartons of
ammunition. There were about 20 weapons in all. But it gets even better.
Within a few minutes the trooper was joined by another and
they began to play with some of these weapons; unloaded; by the side of the
road. The troopers seemed to give no thought to the fact that they were
handling these weapons, marking them with their own fingerprints. What a
bizarre sight this must have been for all who passed by in their cars. I’m sure
they thought they were witnessing a big time “bust.” After all, that’s what
should have happened. But wait, it gets better still.
At one point the other driver; who was very well rehearsed
in all of his dealings with me; somehow convinced one of the troopers to show
him what kind of ammo he used in his state issued 9 MM. The officer actually unholstered
his weapon and ejected the clip. Removing a round he passed it freely to the
other driver for inspection. At this point I was apoplectic. But there was
clearly nothing that I could do about it.
Returning home I related the experience to my wife, as well
as a friend who was Lieutenant on the police force in my town. He was hocked
beyond belief; as every protocol known to law enforcement had been violated by
the actions of the troopers who were clearly enamored of the mysterious other
driver. When I asked him what he thought I should do about it all; I did have
the man’s name and address etc; he told me quite seriously that the best thing
I could do about it was to keep quiet.
Two weeks later my boss called me into his office and
thanked me for the $1,200 dollar check which he received as payment for the
damaged bumper. And I have never written this story down until now. But, I
assure you, every word of it is true.
