Arizona strikes back: State investigates feds over gun-running !!!

WT
Arizona's state legislature will open its own investigation into the Obama administration's disgraced gun-running program, known as "Fast and Furious," the speaker of the state House said Friday.

Speaker Andy Tobin created the committee, and charged it with looking at whether the program broke any state laws — raising the possibility of state penalties against those responsible for the operation.

It's a turnaround from the rest of the immigration issue, where the federal government has sued to block the state's own set of laws.

A law requiring businesses to check new workers' legal status was upheld by the Supreme Court last year, and the court has agreed to hear the case of Arizona's crackdown law that makes being an illegal immigrant a state crime and gives state and local police the power to enforce that law.

Fast and Furious was a straw-purchase program run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The goal was to try to trace guns sold in Arizona shops and then trafficked across the Mexican border, where they landed in the hands of drug cartels.

As part of the operation, however, agents let the guns "walk" — meaning they lost track of them. At least two of the guns ended up at the scene where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a shootout with Mexican bandits along a smuggling corridor in Arizona.

Mr. Tobin will announce the committee's jurisdiction at a press conference in Phoenix on Monday. The committee is charged with looking into the facts about the program, what impact it had on Arizona and whether any of the state's laws were broken.

A report is due back by March 30.

Arizona's investigation into Fast and Furious comes on top of an investigation by Republicans in Congress.

On Friday the chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona told a House committee he will decline to answer their questions next week, citing his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

The official's lawyer, in a letter to the committee, said his client is innocent but is "ensnared by the unfortunate circumstances in which he now stands between two branches of government."

Ten Arizona sheriffs call for Holder to step down over "Fast and Furious"

"In law enforcement, this is unacceptable..." The Sheriffs are demanding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reveal the truth behind the scandal, and believe that those responsible should be criminally accountable for allowing 2,000 guns to be purchased on U.S. Soil and turned over to the Mexican drug cartels. The operation code named Fast & Furious was to develop information on loose weapons sales so that the Obama Administration could make the case to restrict the sale of weapons and reduce the strength of the guarantees put forth by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ... the Right for citizens to bear (own) arms. Sadly, a Federal agent was gunned down and killed with a known Fast & Furious assault weapon. Ten Arizona Sheriffs (elected as Democrats and Republicans) held a news conference this week stating that they feel Attorney General Eric Holder should step down or be fired because they, the Sheriffs, no longer have confidence in the DOJ with Holder as its leader.

Authorities Arrest at Least 70 Suspected Drug Smugglers in Major Bust in Arizona

'Jaw dropping' bust of 70 members from 'billion-dollar' drug cartel that supplies 65% of illegal drugs brought to U.S.

• Thousands of pounds of narcotics were seized in Arizona with the arrest of 70 suspected smugglers
• The Mexican drug cartel accused is believed to handle 65 percent of all illegal drugs smuggled into the U.S.
• Tens of thousands have been killed in Mexican drug-related violence since 2006

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

The suspected cartel in Sinaloa Mexico under Kingpin Joaquin 'El Champ' Guzman, is believed to handle 65 percent of all drugs transported illegally into the United States.Officials seized thousands of pounds of narcotics with the arrest of 70 suspected drug smugglers in what is being described as a 'jaw-dropping' confiscation by authorities in Arizona.

'This is one of the more substantial drug-smuggling operations going on right now. This is a billion-dollar drug trade organization linked to the cartel,' an official with the investigation told Reuters.

Mexican kingpin: Joaquin 'El Champ' Guzman (left) of the suspected Sinaloa cartel is believed to handle 65 percent of all drugs transported illegally into the United States

The operation carried over a 17-month period, included three raids in conglomeration with local, state and federal officials.

Both Mexican and American nations were arrested who were found working with the cartel based in Sinaloa, a coastal Northwestern state in Mexico. 

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The area is home to large marijuana and opium poppy plantations and according to Reuters, is considered the 'cradle' to narcotics trafficking in Mexico for the past 50 years.

Among the narcotics confiscated by authorities, money, weapons, ammunition and bullet-proof vests were taken.

Underground: Tunnels, like the one shown here, were among the ways drug smugglers were able to enter into the U.S. from Mexico

The drugs were found smuggled from Mexico to Arizona by means of car, plane, foot, as well as through tunnels.

The Mexican drug cartel described by the official as a 'sophisticated network' is also one of the largest operations in the southwestern United States today.

Just last year the Sinaloa cartel under 'El Champ,' was feared by U.S. intelligence as winning the Mexican drug war.

Mexico's narcotic 'cradle': Sinaloa is home to large marijuana and opium poppy plantations dominating the county's production for the past 50 years

Dangerous crops: A Mexican police man is shown destroying opium poppies to prevent its manufacture into morphine and heroin that is then smuggled into the U.S.

In just a two-year battle, 5,000 people were killed, resulting in the Mexican kingpin controlling coveted trafficking routes for their operations.

Tens of thousands of people total, however, have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderon initiated a military campaign to fight the cartels following his presidency in 2006.

'Stop the War': Protestors in Mexico City marched this spring, protesting the thousands who have died since the war on drugs began in 2006

All of those killed were by drug-related violence.

The official speaking with Reuters says they are still in search of dozens more in connection to the operation.

Those who have been captured, some serving as key players to the operations, will be prosecuted on the state level.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055693/Officials-seize-thousands-pounds-narcotics-arrest-70-US-smugglers.html#ixzz1cNiB3jdo

Gov. Brewer: Obama 'patronizing' in meeting !!!

Gov. Jan Brewer provides behind-the-scenes details in her new book about her handling of Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law last year, including a tense meeting with President Barack Obama and her administration's attempts to avoid being branded racist over the crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Brewer devotes much of the book to defending the immigration law, describing it as a fair, effective and necessary response to what she said amounts to Washington turning a blind eye on border security. She said her administration was aware early on that the state would face an outcry and allegations of racism, and responded by making what they thought were important changes to the law to minimize those concerns.

Brewer's 228-page book is going on sale Nov. 1. The Associated Press purchased a copy early.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote the book's foreword, calling Brewer a straight-talker who does what she believes is right even when it's difficult. The book is called "Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure America's Border."

Brewer focused heavily on her fight against Washington on the immigration issue, and the book hardly touched on her 2010 successful election campaign. It made no mention of an embarrassing pause during a televised debate that drew national attention. Read More: 
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/life_entertainment/entertainment/article_276a2b61-5f2e-5c82-bdc7-3fb156512882.html


Pre-Order here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062106392/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=14675643690&ref=pd_sl_7jqobz2mjz_b

Facebook Apologizes for Deleting Arizona Governor's Post

Facebook

Facebook issued an apology Saturday for deleting a post by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that criticized President Obama over his administration's new policy on prioritizing deportations of illegal immigrants.

Brewer's picture and a statement that accompanied it were removed Friday from Facebook, apparently because they "violated Facebook community standards."

"The post was removed in error," Andrew Noyes, Manager of Public Policy Communications at Facebook said in a statement. "We apologize for any inconvenience."

Before the photo's removal from the popular social networking site, it had garnered over 10,000 "likes" and comments, Brewer said in a follow-up post that included a reprint of Thursday's original deleted post.

Brewer, one of the president's toughest critics on border policy, said the administration's recent move to launch a case-by-case review of illegal immigrants slated for deportation amounts to an immigration overhaul "via executive fiat."

"This plan amounts to backdoor amnesty for hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of illegal aliens," the Republican governor said in a written statement. "We need to remind President Obama that we elected a president that serves beneath the law and did not anoint a king that is above the law."

According to Facebook policy, moderators remove posts when they fall under the categories of threat, bullying and harassment, hate speech, graphic violence, sex and nudity, theft, vandalism or fraud, identity and privacy, intellectual property, phishing and spam.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/20/facebook-apologizes-for-deleting-arizona-governors-photo-criticizing-obama/#ixzz1Vcz45rhk