The Political Spectrum

Pop quiz hotshot: Name the terrorist organization that, until 9/11, had killed more US Citizens than any other?

The answer is Hezbollah, the so-called party of God. Just in case anybody had forgotten about them, they woke everyone up earlier this week by staging a massive pro-Syrian demonstration in Lebanon that possibly derailed Syria's exit from that country. And this interview in today's National Review Online with Barbara Newman, coauthor with Tom Diaz of Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil paints an even scarier portrait of Hezbollah activities. Newman claims that Hezbollah maintains a very heavy presence in the United States today.

Hezbollah has been operating inside the United States. Since the 1980s, the FBI has deported hundreds of members and had dozens of cases. Mostly, in these years, the Hezbollah cells were busted for criminal activity such as insurance fraud, credit-card fraud, counterfeiting clothes such as Levi jeans, phony marriages which they arranged to get green cards, and cigarette smuggling. Though these are sort of under-the-radar crimes, they raised millions of dollars which were sent to Hezbollah coffers in Beirut and in some cases used to buy highly sophisticated "dual-use" equipment in Canada such as very sophisticated computers, cell phones hooked up electronically to be capable of remotely controlled explosions, and intelligence drones.

They have not hit us here but the FBI and CIA thinks if we push them to the wall, cut off their ability to raise funds, get tough with them in Lebanon, they easily could hit us here.

Remember, they are very tough and sophisticated. Their soldiers don't do solo operations. Think of them as a pistol aimed at our head, which can be shot at will.

More discouraging, US immigration policies have made it easier for Hezbollah agents to infiltrate our Nation.

Without a doubt, U.S. immigration policies and practices made it laughingly easy for Hezbollah members to enter the U.S. illegally. There is a place called Margarita Island off the coast of Venezuela where for $300 you can get phony papers to enter the U.S. When immigration officials noticed the blatant forgeries, the Hezbollah members asked for political asylum and were told to report to court on a certain date. Most didn't. Many found ways to stay here simply by taking identities of friends leaving the country or paying women to marry them and never living with them.

Since 9/11, these politics have been toughened and our people are more vigilant in the pursuit of terrorists trying to enter the country.

But we have porous borders to our north and south and Hezbollah has taken to getting people in the country by hiding in the trunk of cars coming in from Mexico.

Finally, Newman states that Hezbollah just might be an even bigger threat to the United States than al-Queda.

A lot of intelligence officers I have spoken to regard Hezbollah as more a threat to Americans than al Qaeda. One FBI station chief I know very well said he's worried about Hezbollah, he's worried about the Hezbollah cells in the United States, and he's worried about Hezbollah members so secretly ensconced here that even operating cells don't know about them.

But of course, Michael Moore has assured us all that there is no terrorist threat in the United States, so we need not worry. Back to putting our heads in the sand.