The National Border Patrol Council, which represents all 17,000 of the agency’s non-supervisory agents, called for the resignation Monday of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for his role in the botched “Fast & Furious” gunrunning operation that resulted in the death of a US Border Patrol agent.

Council President George E. McCubbin III, a 25-year Border Patrol veteran himself, described Mr. Holder’s actions in the case as “a slap in the face to all Border Patrol agents who serve this country,” adding that the attorney general has shown “an utter failure of leadership at the highest levels of government.”

Two semi-automatic AK-47 assault weapons found at the scene of the Dec. 15, 2010, killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry were traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) to “straw buyers” who bought the weapons as part of the Fast & Furious investigation.

Agent Terry died during a gunfight with heavily armed Mexican bandits along the US-Mexico border south of Tucson. More than 2,000 weapons purchased during the ATF-led Fast & Furious operation were “walked” to drug smugglers in Mexico. More than 600 of them are still missing.

Mr. McCubbin said Border Patrol agents are indoctrinated from day one of their training that “integrity is their most important trait...and that without it, they have little use to the agency.” He said agents who lie or show a lack of candor are quickly disciplined.

“The standard that applies to these agents should at a minimum be applied to those who lead them,” Mr. McCubbin said. “If Eric Holder were a Border Patrol agent and not the attorney general, he would have long ago been found unsuitable for government employment and terminated.

“The heroism that Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry demonstrated on that cold night in the desert of Arizona was in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Border Patrol and will never be forgotten by those who patrol this nation’s borders,” he said.

Mr. McCubbin said the “political shenanigans” surrounding the Fast & Furious operation and “passing the blame” must stop.

He noted that a Border Patrol agent cannot accidentally step foot in Mexico without myriad US and Mexican government agencies being made aware, so Fast & Furious had to have been conducted with the knowledge and tacit approval of the Justice Department and the Obama Administration.

“It is time for Attorney General Holder to show the least shred of responsibility and leadership and resign his post,” Mr. McCubbin said. “Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry deserves nothing less.”

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Editor's Note: When the leader loses the confidence of the rank-and-file; the confidence of those he leads, serious thought to resigning should be considered...Let's see what kind of "leader" Eric Holder is: a narcissistic leader, or a selfless leader.


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