We saw this coming

"[The ATF's 'Fast and Furious'] operation makes no sense. According to every law enforcement authority I have talked with, and that includes many ATF agents themselves, you don't ever let a gun walk, as they say in this business, Anderson. Especially without any way to know where it is going.

"So what's the real purpose? The lack of sense, the apparent cover-up has opened the door now for these conspiracy theorists. And you got to follow this. They believe this was part of a convoluted plan for the Obama administration and the attorney general to actually increase the level of violence on the Mexican border with assault weapons purchased in the U.S. in an apparent attempt to rekindle interest in an assault weapons ban.

"As wacky as that may sound, I must tell you that theory is gaining traction, not just among the second amendment crowd because this operation makes no other sense." (CNN correspondent Drew Griffin, September 28, 2011)

"...Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos starting in July 2010 about the controversial [ATF] gunrunning probe known as Operation Fast and Furious, though he claimed in May [in testimony before Congress] he only learned of the operation a few weeks prior." (The New York Post, October 6, 2011)