"Hezbollah Working with Cartels"

Hi Gang:
The news report I am forwarding to you was sent to me Sunday evening by one of the folks who is on my e-mail list and communicates with me regularly.
The article was posted by a Fox News reporter from their Los Angeles bureau on February 21st and should be of great concern to all Americans and all of our leaders- it deals with evidence that members of Hezbollah are working in conjunction with the Mexican drug cartels along our nation’s borders.
If you click on the link that I have provided you with the article, you will be able to view the video of the news report that ran on Fox News last week.
As I have noted in many of my commentaries, terrorist organizations require money in order to carry out their operations and will often commit a wide variety of crimes in order to secure those critically important funds.  This news report addresses the fact that the Hezbollah terrorists are seeking to enter the United States by running our southern border and are believed to have done so on previous occasions over the past several years.  It should be presumed that smugglers have assisted these terrorists in entering our country surreptitiously and that Hezbollah and most likely other terrorist organizations have smuggled narcotics into the United States as well as into Europe as a means of raising funds that are so vital to them.
The news report addresses the fact that terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah have been operating in the so-called “Tri-Border Region” of Brazil and have also made inroads into other Latin American countries.
WSB-TV has been doing a terrific job of reporting on how our porous borders are providing illegal aliens from so-called “Special Interest” countries- countries that are involved with state sponsored terrorism have been arrested attempting to enter our country.  
Brad Stone, a producer for the Special Projects Unit of WSB-TV, the Atlanta based ABC Network affiliated station, has been spearheading these reports and has interviewed me on a number of occasions for his station’s continuing coverage of this major threat to our nation’s security.
Here is a link to one of a series of these reports that aired on his station last year:
What must be understood is that the Border Patrol only stops and arrests a percentage of the illegal aliens who seek to enter our country each and every day.  It may be that one in five gets arrested, it may be that one in three gets arrested or, it may be that one in ten gets arrested- no one knows with anything resembling certainty what percentage of illegal aliens manage to evade the Border Patrol.  The point is that while we know who has been arrested, what we don’t know is who did not get arrested!
When I was attending school, I used to joke that the teacher should take attendance by asking those kids who were not in class to raise their hands.  This got lots of laughs from everyone, including my teachers, but this is a bit like the way that our country attempts to determine how secure our borders are- they track how many illegal aliens are arrested but really have no idea as to who did not get arrested.  No one knows where they are or why they  are here!  While many are simply seeking unlawful employment, a significant number of those aliens who evade the Border Patrol have far more sinister objectives in mind.  These are the fugitives who are wanted for crimes they committed in other countries, those who are here to commit crimes such as members of the various drug cartels from a number of countries including Mexico, those who belong to transnational gangs and criminal organizations and those whose presence in our country is to support the missions of terrorist organizations.
Something that must also be considered is the fact that it is impossible to sit across from another person and, without reliable documentation, truly know the identity of the person you rare interviewing.  It is not only impossible to know the true name of that person but even to be certain as to the nationality of that person.
This is not conjecture on my part, this is what I have experienced in the course of my 30 year career with the former INS.
A person who lives for years in Latin America would be able to pass for being a native of Latin America even if he (she) was born in the Middle East, Africa, Europe or any other country.  I could relate many stories about individuals who lied about their true identities and nationalities as a means of “getting over,” concealing their true identities in order to evade our efforts to uncover the criminal activities they were involved with.  
The following news report details how Venezuela is apparently playing host to Iranian shock troops.  Imagine how easy it would be for an Iranian soldier to immerse himself (herself) in the culture of Latin America by living in Venezuela for a number of years- perfecting his language skills and developing an extensive background in the culture of Latin America and then be given a passport from Venezuela with a brand new name so that, for example, Mohamed becomes Miguel.  How easily could that individual pass himself off as a Latin American?
On April 21, 2010 the Washington Times ran a disturbing news report that was entitled:

“Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela”

Here is the link to that news report in its entirety:
The report begins with the following paragraphs that are guaranteed to get your attention:

Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon’s first report to Congress on Tehran’s military.

The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.

The Qods force “maintains operational capabilities around the world,” the report says, adding that “it is well established in the Middle East and North Africa and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.”

“If U.S. involvement in conflict in these regions deepens, contact with the IRGC-QF, directly or through extremist groups it supports, will be more frequent and consequential,” the report says.

The report provides the first warning in an official U.S. government report about Iranian paramilitary activities in the Western Hemisphere. It also highlights links between Iran and the anti-U.S. government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been accused of backing Marxist terrorists in Colombia.

The
report gives no details on the activities of the Iranians in
Venezuela and Latin America. Iranian-backed terrorists have conducted
few attacks in the region. However, U.S. intelligence officials say
Qods operatives are developing networks of terrorists in the region
who could be called to attack the United States in the event of a
conflict over Iran’s nuclear program.

Here is the link to the report that the Pentagon provided to Congress on Tehran’s military that served as the predication for the news report:
The online edition of the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, posted a news report, last month, on January 28th that was entitled:
“Controversial Muslim cleric caught being smuggled into U.S. over Mexico border”
Here is the link to that news report:
The report noted that:

U.S. border guards got a surprise when they searched a Mexican BMW and found a hardline Muslim cleric – banned from France and Canada – curled up in the boot.

Said Jaziri, who called for the death of a Danish cartoonist that drew pictures of the prophet Mohammed, was being smuggled into California when he was arrested, along with his driver Kenneth Robert Lawler.

The 43-year-old was deported from Canada to his homeland Tunisia in 2007 after it emerged he had lied on his refugee application about having served jail time in France.


On May 26, 2010 Fox News ran a news report entitled:

Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border

Here is the link to that worrisome report:

The report begins with the following passage:

The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com

The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.

The warning follows an indictment unsealed this month in Texas federal court that accuses a Somali man in Texas of running a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” responsible for bringing hundreds of Somalis from Brazil through South America and eventually across the Mexican border. Many of the illegal immigrants, who court records say were given fake IDs, are alleged to have ties to other now-defunct Somalian terror organizations that have merged with active organizations like Al Shabaab, al-Barakat and Al-Ittihad Al-Islami.

In 2008, the U.S. government designated Al Shabaab a terrorist organization. Al Shabaab has said its priority is to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on Somalia; the group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda and has made statements about its intent to harm the United States.

Meanwhile we have had a continual stream of press releases and media appearances by Janet Napoltiano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Surrender telling us that all was well and the border is now safer than it has been in years.
New York’s Senior Senator, Chuck Schumer has been insisting for years that the borders are so secure that we should now place the millions of illegal aliens whose true identities are unknown and unknowable on a pathway to United States citizenship!
Obviously the issue of what Schumer and company refer to as “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” and that I have come to call it by its far more accurate, honest and descriptive name, the “Terrorist Assistance and Facilitation Act” has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not the borders are secure.  However, the fact that must not be forgotten is that Schumer is supposed to represent the best interests of our nation and all of our citizens with special attention paid to the citizens of the state that sent him to the United States Senate.  That state is New York State the state that suffered the greatest trauma on September 11, 2001!
It is unconscionable that any politician could ignore the huge vulnerabilities that our porous borders create for our nation.  
Anyone who understands national security knows that a nation’s security begins at its borders.  When our soldiers headed to Iraq in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 a contingent of United States Border Patrol agents were sent along with them to secure the Iraqi borders against terrorists and insurgents.  Among those Border Patrol agents were members of the elite BORTAC Units to take the steps necessary to secure that nation’s borders to protect our soldiers and the civilians of that nation.
The security of our southern border should be a major priority for our nation but instead, that border remains as porous as a sieve!
This is not a new problem and it is not only something that should be attributed to the current administration- this has been going on for many years and the Bush Administration did nothing to secure that dangerous border either!
Under the current administration, when aliens succeed in running our nation’s borders and making their way to cities throughout our nation, virtually nothing is done to seek to identify them, apprehend them and remove them from our country.  
Illegal aliens who are found working illegally are not even being generally arrested by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  This was a focus of a recent Congressional hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.  I testified at that hearing this past January 26th that was entitled:
“ICE Worksite Enforcement – Up to the Job?”
Here is a link to the prepared testimony of the witnesses who appeared at that hearing and the video of the hearing itself:
The administration has made it clear that unless an alien is convicted for committing a serious crime, DHS has no interest in arresting these illegal aliens.  In fact, the amnesty programs advocated by the administration and members of Congress of both major political parties would accord millions of illegal aliens lawful immigration status and a pathway to United States citizenship!
I have on a number of occasions compared a failure to enforce the immigration laws in a truly meaningful way the equivalent of playing baseball and having your outfielders sit out the game when they are supposed to be covering the outfield.  Under such a bizarre situation, any hitter from the opposing team who hits the ball over the infielders’ heads would get a virtual automatic “In the park home run!”
No same manager of a baseball team would do this and ICE should not be doing this either!
Meanwhile, anyone who calls for securing our nation’s borders is vilified for daring to demand that our government do for the United States and our citizens that our government did for Iraq!
Securing our borders against the unlawful entry of aliens into our country and the smuggling of narcotics and other contraband including, potentially weapons of mass destruction, is not racism or xenophobia- it is commonsense!
Locking your doors and windows before going to sleep at night does not make a person anti-social, it means he is prudent!
Because or the long standing failures to secure our borders and create an immigration system that has integrity our nation and our citizens remain exposed to serious threats.  
This must stop!  
Nothing less than the survival of our nation and our citizens hang in the balance!
A country without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!

I

our country is to survive and if our children and their children are to get their share of the “American Dream” the citizens of this nation must take their citizenship seriously!

We the People must be the best citizens we can be, citizens who are worthy of the gallantry demonstrated by our valiant men and women in the military, law enforcement and firefighters, who routinely go in harm’s way in defense of this nation and our citizens.  
My goal in writing this and other commentaries is to point out our nations many failings before more victims pay the ultimate price for the incompetence and ineptitude of our government.
The first step in problem-solving is to first identify the problems and vulnerabilities and then devise strategies to overcome them.
If you find yourself to be in agreement with this commentary, I ask that you forward it to as many of your friends and family members as possible and encourage them to do the same.  We need to create a “Bucket Brigade of Truth!”

The practice of good citizenship does not end in the voting booth, it only begins there.

The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!


The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.  I implore you to resolve this year to get involved!
I believe our nation’s is greatly benefited by the rich diversity of our people which is why I could never imagine living anywhere except New York City, arguably the most diverse city in our nation if not, in fact, the world.  However, my idea of diversity most certainly does not include members of MS-13, the Mexican drug cartels or members of other transnational gangs or members of al-Qaeda!

If this situation concerns you or especially if it angers you, I ask you to call your Senators and Congressional “Representative. This is not only your right- it is your obligation! 

All I ask is that you make it clear to our politicians that we are not as dumb as they hope we are!

We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance.

This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!

You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!

Democracy is not a spectator sport!

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

-michael cutler- 


Please check out my website:

  



Hezbollah Working with
Cartels


Posted By Adam Housley On February
21, 2011 @ 11:17 AM In
Border Security, Crime, Drug
War
, Immigration, Latin America, Mexico,
Middle East, Terrorism, U.S. | Comments
Disabled

As if the threat of deadly drug cartels in Mexico wasn’t enough,
some of them are joining forces with Middle East terror groups.


“Hezbollah are absolute masters at identifying existing
smuggling infrastructures,” says former DEA Chief of Operations
Mike Braun, adding that the group “is developing relations with
those responsible for operating those smuggling operations and then
forming close relations with them, so that they can move anything
they have an interest into virtually anywhere in the world.” That
comment comes from former DEA Chief of Operations Mike Braun. He goes
on to tell me that the Middle East terror group is “rubbing
shoulders” with drug cartels around the globe.


My military and Department of Homeland Security contacts are
insistent…it’s not if Hezbollah operatives have been smuggled
into the U.S….but how many? They note that drug tunnels are
becoming much more sophisticated and striking similar as tunnels
being used by terror organizations to smuggle weapons into the Gaza
Strip. My contacts also say they have real concern that bombing
techniques used in the Middle East to promote terror are now also
being used inside Mexico, as the cartels war with each other and
anyone in their way.

This comes as Mexican authorities busted a senior Hezbollah
operative who employed Mexicans nationals with family ties to Lebanon
to set up the network, designed to target Israel and the West,
according to multiple reports. The man’s name is Jameel Nasr and he
was arrested after a Mexican surveillance operation revealed that he
traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive information and
instructions from Hezbollah commanders and he also spent several
months in Venezuela working with the terror group and Hugo Chavez’s
people. American security contacts say the Mexican operation was
impressive and they are seeing some increased pressure on the cartels
from Mexican authorities and thus…their friends.

Meantime, over this past weekend President Calderon of Mexico sent
a significant number of troops to the border regions and while they
are there to help battle the cartels, they have also been sent to
deal with the growing connection to Hezbollah. As one contact told
me, “Mexico knows the seriousness of a cartel connection with
Hezbollah and the threat to their national security.”

We also know from DHS documents that over 180,000 illegal aliens
from countries Other than Mexico were apprehended from 2007 through
mid-March 2010 and the State Department Country Reports on Terrorism
said that “smuggling rings have been detected moving people from
East Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia”. I am told these
people and drugs are then moved up through Central America and into
the Unites States through Mexico.

Congressman Connie Mack chairs the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee
and says, “I think the question that we all have to ask is, when
the terrorist come into Latin America, when they move into Mexico,
how many have come into the United States? Our government doesn’t
know the answer to that question. That should make all of us very
fearful.”

The Congressman is critical of the Administrations response to
this increased threat, “What are we going to do to secure our
border step one and step two what are we going to do to confront the
drug cartels in Hezbollah from continuing to create a force inside
Mexico that will destabilize the United States?”

In response to this story, I contacted DHS and various departments
within the administration. To be fair, they are obviously not going
to give up information on operations or threats that they are working
to eliminate, however, we didn’t get much in feedback about our
story, or in a way of a statement. I did have testimony forwarded to
me from Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela from February
15th where he acknowledges the threat to American security and says
the U.S. will continue to assist in the region’s need to combat
drug trafficking and transnational crime.