Your tax dollars at work, America.

Armed guards ensuring safety of Organ Pipe tours

QUITOBAQUITO - It was a tour of public lands with splendid scenery, a glib guide - and lethal firepower on hand just in case.

The tour last week - to Quitobaquito Spring at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument south of Ajo - was guarded by federal officers armed with assault rifles and other weapons.

Why?

"It's because of the perception that exposure to human and narcotics smugglers is a bad thing for the visiting public," said Matthew Vandzura, chief ranger at the monument on the Mexican border.

No word on whether or not TSA was on hand to grope the tourists before and after the tour, in case one of them might have had a Swiss Army knife.

I've been to Organ Pipe National Monument. It was nice. There were no armed guards or "Danger beware of narco-smugglers" signs. That's because it was about 1997 and the Border Patrol hadn't yet been ordered to NOT arrest smugglers. 

Then there's this gem today:

Federal agents stopped the main target of the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious in May 2010. After they questioned him, he disappeared back into Mexico, and the program went on to spiral out of control.

Because its the LS Times I'll do the translation for you. He didn't magically "disappear", THEY LET HIM GO.

Why ATF agents did not arrest Celis-Acosta immediately is not clear. He was their prime suspect and the subject of secret wiretaps approved by the Justice Department.

"Due to the fact that the criminal case is still ongoing in the courts, and the inspector general's office is still investigating, we cannot comment about this," ATF chief spokesman Drew Wade said.

They can't comment because nobody at Justice is willing to fall on their sword and admit they gave the order to ATF to let this clown go, even though they had him dead to rights. Because it probably came from pretty high up.

So why is human- smuggling, drug traffic and gun-running out of control on the southern US border? Because Obama and Holder want it that way, that's why. Its government policy. Y'all are paying for this.

The Phantom