This should give us all pause for concern…
Hezbollah, Iran Agents Scouting U.S. Targets for Terrorist Strikes
by Judith Miller
NewsMax
March 22, 2012
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ShareAmerica faces a growing threat from “hundreds” of agents of Hezbollah in the U.S as tensions grow over Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program, current and former law enforcement officials warned the House Committee on Homeland Security on Wednesday.
Opening hearings in Washington on the domestic security threat posed by the Iranian-supported terror group, committee chairman Peter King, Republican of New York, called Hezbollah “one of international terrorism’s most violent murder gangs” and said that the government had a duty to “prepare for the worst.”
The director of intelligence analysis for the New York Police Department and former officials of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Treasury Department who had worked intimately on Federal cases involving Hezbollah agreed that the militant Shiite group now posed a greater threat to Americans at home than Al Qaeda, Sunni Muslim militants, and that more needed to be done to identify operatives and limit their operations here.
They also agreed that a foiled Hezbollah plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. by bombing a restaurant in Washington last October was a “game-changer” suggesting that the group would not hesitate to strike on American soil if necessary by transforming what has previously been operations focused mainly on fund-raising into terror plots.
The committee was told that the more than 20 federal cases involving the Lebanese-based Hezbollah since 9/11 was probably just the tip of the iceberg of the group’s presence in the U.S., since the Federal government had chosen to quietly deport many other alleged operatives and settle other cases with publicly identifying suspected agents involved. Mr. King added that Iran has often used its diplomats to spy on American targets and support fund-raising and terror-related actions of its agents. “There also are 55 Iranian diplomats at the United Nations mission in New York and another 29 Iranian officials here at its interests section, many of whom, Mr. King said, are “presumed to be intelligence officers.”
But Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, the ranking Democrat on the committee, questioned whether the testimony being presented was based on “outdated” information and intelligence. “No current federal officials” had been asked to testify Wednesday, he complained.
But Mitchell D. Silber, of the NYPD, disclosed the existence of three more recent cases in which Federal authorities appeared to have taken no action against alleged spies. Iranian diplomats had been “released without incident” in May, 2005, September, 2008, and September, 2010 after the NYPD had caught ostensible diplomats or employees of the Iran Broadcasting Company taking photos and video-tapes of such potential targets as cruise liners, railroad tracks inside Grand Central Station, and most recently, the Wall Street heliport.
Silber added that over the past six months, the NYPD’s investigation into terrorist plots with a “plausible nexus to Iran” that were conducted or foiled in Azerbaijan, India, Georgia, Thailand, and in Washington had “heightened our concerns” about a possible attack by Iran in New York.
Christopher Swecker, a former FBI assistant director in charge of the Criminal Investigative Division, called Hezbollah the “A Team” of terrorist organizations, given its history, its organizational reach, para-military training, and the state sponsorship of Iran. He described a landmark money-laundering case that the Bureau launched in 1998 showing how Hezbollah had leveraged the “full range of criminal activities” to raise money for the group. In March, 2001, he said, an indictment named 25 defendants in a 77 count federal bill of indictment that included such crimes as cigarette smuggling, interstate transport of stolen property, immigration, bank, mail and credit card fraud, and conspiracy to provide material support for a terrorist organization.
Michael A Braun, a former assistant administrator and chief of operations of the DEA, warned of Iran’s “growing presence in the Western Hemisphere and beyond” and the growing nexus between networks used by Mexican drug cartels and terrorist groups, especially Hezbollah. “If anyone thinks for one moment that these terrorist organizations do not understand that the Mexican drug trafficking cartels now dominate drug trafficking in our country, reportedly in more than 250 cities, then they are ignorant or very naïve,” Dr. Braun said.
He also warned that another terrorist group heavily involved in drug trading, the Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had financed the construction of mini-submarine-like boats, one of which had carried 8 tons of cocaine from the shores of Colombia to northern Mexico. More had to be done, he said, to break down barriers that still separate counternarcotics and counterterrorism activities.
Matthew Levitt, a former senior Treasury Department official now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that while Hezbollah once saw America mainly as a “cash cow” to finance its sprawling activities in Lebanon where it operates openly as a powerful political faction and throughout the world, it was “no longer clear” that Iran saw carrying out an attack in the U.S. “as crossing some sort of red line.” He said that
Hezbollah specialized in recruiting agents whom it used as sleeper agents, often for years without activating them. Its agents, he added, often “don’t fit the profile,” which made the organization a more potent terrorist threat.
Levitt and other witnesses cited testimony last January by James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, that Iran’s leaders are “more willing to conduct an attack inside the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime.”
All the witnesses agreed there was no certainty that Iran would strike in the U.S. if tensions over the nuclear program escalated or if Israel or the U.S. launched a military attack against its nuclear facilities. Nor could they link any specific surveillance incident in New York to an actual plot. But, Mr. Silber added, “Iran has a proven record of using its official presence in a foreign city to coordinate attacks, which are then carried out by Hezbollah agents from abroad, often leveraging the local community — whether wittingly or not — as facilitators.”
Intelligence officials blame Hezbollah for more American deaths than any group except Al Qaeda. Its attacks on the U.S. Marine’s peace-keeping compound in Beirut in 1983 and on Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 had claimed some 150 deaths alone. It had staged far-flung successful attacks – two in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 against Jewish and Israeli targets.
“If Iran had it way,” said Mr. King, “Washington D.C. would have witnessed terrible carnage amid the smoking ruins of a popular local restaurant only a few months ago,” referring to the thwarted attack on Adel Al –Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador.
Mr. King used Mr. Silber’s presence at the hearings to praise the NYPD as the nation’s most effective counter-terrorism force, and to attack press and other critics of the department’s Muslim surveillance program as “irresponsible,” “misguided” and “cheap.”
France on highest terror alert after shooting of 4 outside Jewish School
(CBS/AP) TOULOUSE, France – French President Nicolas Sarkozy says authorities are raising the terrorism alert to its highest level across a swath of southern France where a gunman opened fire on a Jewish school before fleeing.
Sarkozy said Monday’s attack in Toulouse, which killed three children and a rabbi, was the worst-ever school shooting in France. He said the terror alert level is being raised to scarlet, the highest on a four-point scale, in the region that includes Toulouse and neighboring areas.
A U.S. official told CBS News by email on Monday that they would continue to monitor threats including those against the American Jewish Community, but to their knowledge there were no specific threats to locations within the U.S. at this point. They said are continuing to work with European authorities to monitor the situation there, and asking the general public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement authorities.
One of the weapons used Monday was the same used to kill three paratroopers in two different attacks in the Toulouse region last week, according to investigators. Those two deadly attacks in the same region last week killed three French paratroopers and left another seriously injured.
The motive is unclear, but all the targets apparently have been ethnic minorities. Sarkozy also suggested one person was behind all three attacks.
Sarkozy said 14 riot police units “will secure the region as long as this criminal” hasn’t been caught.
A 30-year-old rabbi and his 3-year-old and 6-year-old sons were killed in Monday’s attack, just before classes started at the Ozar Hatorah school, a junior high and high school in a quiet residential neighborhood, Toulouse Prosecutor Michel Valet said. Witnesses said the man worked at the school.
Police identified the fourth victim as the 10-year-old daughter of the school director. A 17-year-old was critically injured. The gunman fired 15 shots during the attack.
“He shot at everything he had in front of him, children and adults,” Valet said. “The children were chased inside the school.”
Witnesses say shooter was not random but took aim at victims and chased some into schoolyard, reports CBS Radio News correspondent Elaine Cobbe. Investigators are examining footage from a surveillance camera in the school for any clues.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounced “the savagery” of Monday’s attack on a school, and vowed to find the killer or killers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told The Associated Press that the suspect in Monday’s school shootings made his getaway on a dark-colored scooter — just as the assailant or assailants did in the two shootings last week.
The school targeted Monday, behind a high white wall with few external markings, was cordoned off by police, who then escorted other children out as forensics police combed the scene.
One officer held a distraught girl, her face in her hands. A mother and son wearing a yarmulke walked away from the site, their faces visibly pained. A video camera was visible at the school’s entrance.
“The drama occurred a bit before 8 a.m. A man arrived in front of the school on a motorcycle or scooter,” Valet said, adding that the man got off his scooter outside the school and opened fire.
Girl with a Pearl Earring in Coming to the US
I don’t know how I missed this…but I did. Vermeer‘s masterpiece (well, they’re all masterpieces) Girl with a Pearl Earring is coming to the United States in 2013. It will be visiting the following museums, including the Frick in New York. Last in New York nearly 30 years ago, Girlwill be the chief attraction in “Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Paintings From the Mauritshuis,” opening at the Frick on Oct. 22, 2013.
Image via Wikipedia
From the New York Times:
The Frick will be the last stop on a three-museum tour in the United States. Before it comes to New York “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” along with 34 other works from the Mauritshuis, will be at the de Young Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from Jan. 26 through June 2 of 2013, and then the High Museum of Art in Atlanta from June 22 to Sept. 29.
The Great Reviews Keep Coming in for Stealing Rembrandts
“The book alternates between Rembrandt as a prime target of thieves and a broader examination of art thefts throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Amore and Mashberg smash myth after myth.” – The Seattle Times
“[The authors] interview some of today’s highest-profile art thieves . . . The most absorbing part of the entire book is the verbatim testimony from Myles J. Connor about how he cased museums, identified security weaknesses, planned his operations, implemented them, and sought to profit from the art he stole.” — The Boston Globe
“A quick and entertaining read.” –The Christian Science Monitor
“This is a terrific book, and excellently researched.” — ARTnews
“A detailed look at numerous robberies targeting works by the great Dutch master over the past century. Combining impressive shoe-leather reporting skills with solid art-world knowledge, this fascinating book debunks many myths about museum heists while providing vivid profiles of the criminals and their motives . . . As Amore and Mashberg show, stealing a Rembrandt seldom pays off for the thieves but makes the world at large infinitely poorer. With hard facts and a cleareyed perspective, this book sets the record straight.” —Associated Press
“The authors smash myth after myth, many of them the result of unrealistic movies of the James Bond variety … An interesting mish-mash of everything related to the thievery of valuable art.”– Kirkus Reviews
“A fast-paced and engrossing exposé of the shady underbelly of the art world.”—Robert K. Wittman, New York Times bestselling author of Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures
“You don’t have to appreciate art — just entertaining true-crime stories — to enjoy ‘Stealing Rembrandts.’ In this fast-moving account of some of the most daring art heists ever, art security expert Anthony Amore introduces a colorful real-life cast of sticky-fingered art-lovers you won’t soon forget, especially the next time you find yourself in a museum checking out an exhibit of Old Masters, or new.”–Howie Carr, bestselling author of Hitman and The Brothers Bulger
“Authors Amore & Mashberg are the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson of the art world. True masters in their own right, they provide an unvarnished look at some of history’s most notorious art heists, separating fact from popular fiction and defeating the notion that art theft is a victimless crime. On the contrary, Stealing Rembrandts is proof that plundering art for profit is more dangerous than we could ever have imagined.”–Casey Sherman, bestselling author of Search for the Strangler, Bad Blood and The Finest Hours
“People often ask me, ‘Why would anyone steal a high-profile piece of art? What could they do with it?’ If you want answers read Stealing Rembrandts. This finely crafted chronicle of a century of Rembrandt thefts gives the reader rare and intimate access to the strange milieu of the art heist.”–Rebecca Dreyfus,
“Stealing Rembrandts offers a rare inside look into a world few of us know beyond headlines and Hollywood. By weaving together Rembrandt’s own story with exclusive interviews and insights into the men who have stolen his masterpieces, authors Anthony M. Amore and Tom Mashberg do a masterful job of connecting the artist and his thieves across the centuries. Along the way, they explode myths and reveal the true nature of the criminals and their crimes. Most of us can’t hope to hang a Rembrandt on our walls, but the good news is that we can eagerly add this book to our collections.”–Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La
“Stealing Rembrandts is thoroughly researched and filled with memorable characters. It is a fascinating and entertaining read.”—Milton Esterow, publisher of ARTnews
Sharia Law in a Pennsylvania Courtroom?
Easily one of the most disturbing reports about a judge’s courtroom behavior that I have ever read. “Judge” Martin doesn’t deserve censure, he deserves immediate removal from the bench and action from the Pennsylvania Bar. –AA
By Al Stefanelli
The Pennsylvania State Director of American Atheists, Inc., Mr. Ernest Perce V., was assaulted by a Muslim while participating in a Halloween parade. Along with a Zombie Pope, Ernest was costumed as Zombie Muhammad. The assault was caught on video, the Muslim man admitted to his crime and charges were filed in what should have been an open-and-shut case. That’s not what happened, though.
The defendant is an immigrant and claims he did not know his actions were illegal, or that it was legal in this country to represent Muhammad in any form. To add insult to injury, he also testified that his 9 year old son was present, and the man said he felt he needed to show his young son that he was willing to fight for his Prophet.
The case went to trial, and as circumstances would dictate, Judge Mark Martin is also a Muslim. What transpired next was surreal. The Judge not only ruled in favor of the defendant, but called Mr. Perce a name and told him that if he were in a Muslim country, he’d be put to death. Judge Martin’s comments included,
“Having had the benefit of having spent over 2 and a half years in predominantly Muslim countries I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact I have a copy of the Koran here and I challenge you sir to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammad arose and walked among the dead. I think you misinterpreted things. Before you start mocking someone else’s religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it it makes you look like a dufus and Mr. (Defendant) is correct. In many Arabic speaking countries something like this is definitely against the law there. In their society in fact it can be punishable by death and it frequently is in their society.
Judge Martin then offered a lesson in Islam, stating,
“Islam is not just a religion, it’s their culture, their culture. It’s their very essence their very being. They pray five times a day towards Mecca to be a good Muslim, before you die you have to make a pilgrimage to Mecca unless you are otherwise told you can not because you are too ill too elderly, whatever but you must make the attempt. Their greetings wa-laikum as-Salâm (is answered by voice) may god be with you. Whenever, it’s very common when speaking to each other it’s very common for them to say uh this will happen it’s it they are so immersed in it.
Judge Martin further complicates the issue by not only abrogating the First Amendment, but completely misunderstanding it when he said,
“Then what you have done is you have completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very very very offensive. I’m a Muslim, I find it offensive. But you have that right, but you’re way outside your boundaries or first amendment rights. This is what, and I said I spent about 7 and a half years living in other countries. when we go to other countries it’s not uncommon for people to refer to us as ugly Americans this is why we are referred to as ugly Americans, because we are so concerned about our own rights we don’t care about other people’s rights as long as we get our say but we don’t care about the other people’s say”
But wait, it gets worse. The Judge refused to allow the video into evidence, and then said,
“All that aside I’ve got here basically.. I don’t want to say he said she said but I’ve got two sides of the story that are in conflict with each other.”
And,
“The preponderance of, excuse me, the burden of proof… “
And,
“…he has not proven to me beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant is guilty of harassment, therefore I am going to dismiss the charge”
The Judge neglected to address the fact that the ignorance of the law does not justify an assault and that it was the responsibility of the defendant to familiarize himself with our laws. This is to say nothing of the judge counseling the defendant that it is also not acceptable for him to teach his children that it is acceptable to use violence in the defense of religious beliefs. Instead, the judge gives Mr. Perce a lesson in Sharia law and drones on about the Muslim faith, inform everyone in the court room how strongly he embraces Islam, that the first amendment does not allow anyone ” to piss off other people and other cultures” and he was also insulted by Mr. Perce’s portrayal of Mohammed and the sign he carried.
This is a travesty. Not only did Judge Martin completely ignore video evidence, but a Police Officer who was at the scene also testified on Mr. Perce’s behalf, to which the Judge also dismissed by saying the officer didn’t give an accurate account or doesn’t give it any weight.
Here is a link to the video that includes the audio of the Judge during the trial:
Here’s coverage of the incident from the local ABC affiliate
Needless to say, this is totally, completely and unequivocally unacceptable. That a Muslim immigrant can assault a United States citizen in defense of his religious beliefs and walk away a free man, while the victim is chastised and insulted by a Muslim judge who then blamed the victim for the crime committed against him is a horrible abrogation.
This reeks of those cases we used to read about where a woman is blamed for her own rape because she “was asking for it” by virtue of the clothing she chose to wear, and then having the Judge set the rapist free.
I can promise you this, you have not heard the last of this issue. Not by a long shot.
My Latest for the Huffington Post
Last Weekend’s Real Tragic Death – Anthony Amore
Last Friday, Osbrany Montes De Oca, a lance corporal in the United States Marines, set out to begin his patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. As he was walking out of his base, his girlfriend said, he was ambushed by Taliban forces who shot and killed the 20 year old mortarman from New Jersey.
Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca was barely through his first year in service to his country when he made the ultimate sacrifice. But this young man’s passion for his country is the stuff from which legends are made. Born in the Dominican Republic, he left behind a beautiful young girlfriend–”the love of my life” he called her–to enlist in the greatest volunteer force the world has ever known on a mission to bring stability to a country still suffering the ravages of Islamist fanaticism.
His patriotism was shared by his twin brother, Osmany. The Star-Ledger reported that the brothers joined the Marine Corps after graduating high school, telling family members that they wanted to serve their country and fight those who would harm it. The twins’ commitment to service was so great that it actually rubbed off on their older brother, Sandro, who followed the lead of his kid brothers and enlisted as well.
America lost one of its best and brightest on that Friday in Afghanistan. But you’d hardly know it from following the news. Why? Because on Saturday another child of New Jersey, Whitney Houston, died.
Houston was born into a successful family that one might even call privileged. Her father (a former serviceman) was an entertainment executive. Her aunt was Dionne Warwick. Her godmother, Aretha Franklin. Houston grew to become one of the most awarded entertainers in history — and one of its biggest failures. Watching the last decade and a half of Houston’s life was tantamount to watching a car crash. Watching her husband’s reality show, Being Bobby Brown, was like rubbernecking from the couch. Houston went from being a beautiful young singer and actress to a drug-addled mess. She was a mockery of her former self.
So when she died on Saturday, the word “tragedy” was thrown around like penny candy. By the following Tuesday morning, a google search of the terms “Whitney Houston” and “tragedy” resulted in 148 million hits.
Meanwhile, a search for the term “Osbrany Montes De Oca” resulted in under 800 hits. As a Marine, that probably would be fine with Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca. He’d see himself as part of a unit, as a member of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. And that’s exactly what makes him a hero.
But no one mentioned Lance Cpl. Montes De Oca during the Grammys. There was no moment of silence or prayers for him. While CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all broke from their regularly-scheduled programming to deliver non-stop coverage of the singer’s death, barely a word was said about the soldier’s. The love and adulation and respect were all offered to Whitney Houston.
Maybe we as a nation ought to spend more time being grateful for people like him, instead of paying incessant tribute to yet another dead celebrity.
Intelligence Chief Sees al Qaeda Fragmenting
New York Times, Eric Schmitt
Image via Wikipedia
The threat from al-Qaida is likely to evolve over the next several years, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper said Tuesday in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. During his remarks, which were delivered as part of the committee’s yearly hearing on threats to the U.S., Clapper noted that drone strikes, efforts to cut of financing to terrorists, and efforts to counter recruiting propaganda circulated by extremists will fragment al-Qaida. As a result, regional actors will become more prominent over the next two or three years, Clapper said. He noted that this includes regional affiliates of al-Qaida such as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen and is seen as being the most serious threat to the U.S. AQAP was involved in the plot to bomb an airplane as it prepared to land in Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, and has been trying to acquire the beans that are used to produce the toxin ricin. Small terrorist cells and individuals will also help drive the jihadist agenda in the U.S. and around the world, albeit to a lesser extent than regional al-Qaida affiliates like AQAP, Clapper said. He added that violent extremists that live in the U.S. could carry out limited attacks over the next year. As regional al-Qaida affiliates, small terrorist cells, and individuals become more prominent in the al-Qaida movement, Clapper said, Western nations will have to ensure that their counterterrorism efforts do not radicalize more people.
Giving the Gift of Dean Martin
This posting has nothing to do with security. But I had to write it.
The other day, I went to my PO Box for the first time in far too long. Stuffed between a lot of bills was a notice that I had a package. At the customer service counter, the clerk handed me an amazon package. I wasn’t expecting anything.
When I got back to my office, I tore open the box and inside was an stunning Dean Martin box set. Only one person on earth could have sent it to me: the inestimable Danno Carpenter.
Danno, you are the greatest baby. I’m having a scotch in honor of Dino and you!
Image via Wikipedia
A Shameful Opinion Piece from the the Sydney Morning Herald
I just read THE most insane piece that I’ve seen in quite some time. I found it on Yahoo News in the “The Week” section and it was written by The Week’s Editorial Staff. Title: 10 Years of Gitmo: The World’s Vortex of Shame.
I won’t provide a link, lest I add more site visits to such utter absurdity, so here’s the key excerpt:
Wednesday is the 10th anniversary of one of the “blackest moments of the war on terror,” says Elizabeth O’Shea at the Sydney Morning Herald: The opening of Guantanamo Bay prison camp.
It will get much less attention than last year’s 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, says Elizabeth O’Shea in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, but Wednesday marks a decade since “one of the blackest moments of the war on terror: The opening of Guantanamo Bay detention camp.” Gitmo still holds 171 of the 779 prisoners who have been detained there — without “a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.” Eighty-nine of today’s detainees have been cleared for release, but are stuck in limbo after Congress blocked their transfer. Gitmo “represents an affront to the bedrock principles that underpin Western legal systems,” O’Shea argues, and “as a society, we have paid a hefty price” for this miscarriage of justice. Here, an excerpt:
The prison has become a vortex of shame. Fundamental legal principles such as the right to due process should be respected regardless of circumstances.
Poorly written, yes. But even more poorly reasoned. O’Shea misses a few key points. Such as the fact that these are not criminal detainees, these are enemy combatants. They are not US citizens arrested in the States or even abroad for federal criminal violations, they are captured enemies fighting a war they have declared on the United States.
Further, only a far Left-wing writer like O’Shea could reason that Gitmo, not the 9/11 attacks, or the human rights violations in North Korea, Iran, the Sudan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, is the “world’s vortex of shame.” How sickeningly pathetic.
This is the Votex of Shame??? (Image via Wikipedia)
