The operation under Bush was called "Wide Receiver" and ended (October of 2007) before Obama took office. During Wide Receiver the Mexican government was notified each time a gun was crossing the border, the guns were tracked and arrests were made (over 1000). No lives were lost.
Fast and Furious was an effort to build a case against American gun dealers and the Second Amendment. Didn't achieve that goal, but plenty of people paid with their lives.
If the drug cartels can buy fully automatic weapons, shoulder-fired missiles, planes, helicopters, and submarines, they don't need our semiautomatic rifles.