Waco, Ruby Ridge, and "letting guns walk"

So, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is supposed to be keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.  Makes sense.  And it seems that most members of the ATF would know that if guns are purchased in cash...and in paper bags...in a city bordering Mexico... that those guns might end being used by criminals IN Mexico.  And it is very clear that the most dangerous places in Mexico are the bordertowns where the drug cartels operate.  So what was behind the ATF's policy of "letting guns walk" into the hands of criminals in Mexico?  How long has this been going on?  And, most importantly, how many people have lost their lives as an indirect result of this policy?  Obviously, a killer is a killer is a killer.  If a member of a drug cartel couldn't find a gun, he would find a knife or kill with his bare hands.  But why would the ATF make murder easier?  News reports tell us that many ATF agents not only voiced strong opposition to this policy, but feared the day when one of these weapons would kill someone who mattered....a U.S. citizen.

Now I could understand this attitude if we were at war with Mexico...if, as in WWII, our citizens considered the people of Japan and Germany the enemy.  But to let guns be knowingly purchased by criminals, knowing they would murder many innocent Mexican people is not even comprehensible to me.  And, to suddenly express regret about the policy when a U.S. citizen is murdered by one of the "walked" guns makes me wonder if the ATF agents realize how very sad this is.  It is a tragedy that a US border patrol agent was murdered.  His family is distraught now and will mourn their loss forever.  But how many Mexican families have lost loved ones due to these guns?  How many Mexican people are still mourning the loss of a father, mother, son or daughter?

It shouldn't have taken the murder of one of "their own" to bring this inane policy to light.  But I am thankful that it did.