Is State Department Running Guns to Cartels or is the Charge Supposed to be a Distraction?

As the ATF's Fast and Furious / Project Gunwalker scandal continues to heat up, are we being set up to believe that there may be something even worse, courtesy of Hillary Clinton's State Department? According to a report that cites a former CIA operative who led the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intel operation, the Obama administration is running guns to the extremely violent Zetas cartel through the State Department, which is not just selling weaponry but military grade weaponry. This report is very damning to the State Department but the fact that it comes courtesy of the UPI should be a red flag all by itself.

Bob Owens at Pajamas Media via UPI:

A Mexican drug cartel may be smuggling military-grade weapons through El Paso, Texas, and Columbus, N.M., into Mexico, a former intelligence officer said

Phil Jordan, a former CIA operative, told the El Paso Times that the Zetas drug organization might be planning to disrupt Mexico's 2012 elections or use the weapons to fight other cartels.

Jordan, who served as director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Intelligence Center in 1995, said the Zetas have shipped large amounts of weapons purchased in the Dallas area through El Paso.

Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, told the Times he supported Jordan's allegations, adding that the Zetas have reportedly bought property in the Columbus, N.M., border region to stash weapons and other contraband.

"From the intel, it appears that a company was set up in Mexico to purchase weapons through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales Program, and that the company may have had a direct link to the Zetas."

Conversely, Mike Vanderboegh over at Sipsey Street has strong suspicions that this is simply a disinformation campaign designed to take the attention off of the now confirmed, and very legitimate Fast and Furious scandal. Vanderboegh seems somewhat convinced that the scandal known as 'Grenadewalker' was likely manufactured intentionally for this purpose and he makes an excellent case for it:

Agendas and disinformation come in all shapes and sizes and from all directions.

"Tosh" Plumlee, upon whom much of the sensational part of this story hangs, has a history of both according to my sources.

And those sources, I have learned from experience, CAN be trusted.

Owen's story headline is: "Worse Than Gunwalker? State Dept. Allegedly Sold Guns to Zetas: It’s a stunning allegation that makes the other gunrunning scandals look like child’s play."

Yes, well, it is supposed to. In fact, it was probably designed to.

Even if Owens is right and Vanderboegh is wrong, the course the latter recommends is the best one, without question. Fast and Furious is a scandal that has taken months to get to this point; Issa's committee has been setting the hook in the mouth of an extremely large fish at the Department of Justice. Those who want the focus to shift to Grenadedwalker are actually advocating cutting the line because they think there's a bigger catch nearby.

Read Sipsey Street's entire post.