The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) should have stopped its attempt to link illegally sold guns with Mexican drug cartels before it contributed to a Border Patrol agent’s killing — but didn’t. That makes identifying and holding accountable those who countenanced illegal gun sales all the more important.

Five months into Operation Fast and Furious, agents losing track of hundreds of firearms so worried ATF’s then-No. 2 man, Acting Deputy Director William Hoover, that he urged its shutdown. But others who wanted indictments first, including a Justice Department official, prevailed, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Attorney General Eric Holder says illegal gun sales never should have been allowed. Others at Justice deny approving that “operational concept.” And ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson says subordinates came up with the “tactical strategies” after Justice ordered ATF to target cartels.

With all that scurrying for cover, Justice’s internal probe won’t reveal much. It’s the investigation led by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that must answer the fundamental Fast and Furious question:

Who thought allowing illegal gun sales was a good idea in the first place?

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