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Israel Matzav: Hezbullah partners with the Mexican drug cartels

israelmatzav.blogspot.com2/22/11

Some of you in the US may not realize it, but just south of your border there's a war going on. The war is between the Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican government. The cartels are getting help from a familiar name in …

Maysaloon – ??????

www.maysaloon.org10/11/11

Over the past few years there have been many allegations that Iran, and Hezbullah, have connections with drug gangs and extensive networks in Latin America. This is the first time that something this substantial and is …

U.S. authorities stated on Tuesday Dec 13, 2011 that a Lebanese national, Ayman Joumaa,is the ringleader of a huge international drug smuggling ring that has links to the militant group Hezbollah.

At the indictment in federal court in Alexandria Va. it was alleged that he led a conspiracy that, among other activities, sold nearly 100 tons of Colombian cocaine to the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico between 2005 and 2007 that was later smuggled into the United States.

Joumaa, who is currently at large was indicted on drug and money laundering charges after allegedly realizing more than $850 million in illicit profits.

According to court documents, the conspiracy was said to have run since at least 2004 and at times brought in as much as $200 million in a single month.

Law enforcement officials believe Joumaa is currently in Lebanon and it’s unclear whether U.S. officials will be able to obtain his extradition.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of at least $850 million, which is the amount that Joumaa allegedly obtained over the course of the conspiracy, according to the grand jury.

The Hezbollah Connection

Earlier this year, the Treasury Department designated Joumaa as a drug trafficker and described how Hezbollah profited from his network.

One of the members of Joumaa’s network is a suspected Hezbollah supporter; bank managers had links to Hezbollah officials; and the treasury accused a major Lebanese bank, the Lebanese Canadian Bank, of being complicit in Joumaa’s money laundering and turning a blind eye to massive cash transactions.

In The Courtroom

The court’s documents show that Joumaa’s network played a major role in the global drug trade for years, helping Colombian producers get their product into the hands of cartels in Central America and Mexico, and from there into the U.S.

It needs be said though, that the criminal indictment itself makes no mention of links between Joumaa, 47, and Hezbollah, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist group in 1997.

Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, whose office is prosecuting the case said:

“Money fuels the drug trade, and Mr. Joumaa is alleged to be at the center of it all, working with those producing the vast majority of the world’s cocaine to get their drugs safely into the hands of Mexican cartels. Organized crime networks know no borders, and neither can U.S. law enforcement".

According to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), The Lebanese Canadian Bank was sold to an affiliate of France’s Societe Generale in March to restore confidence after those accusations triggered concerns in Lebanon that the U.S. would begin targeting Lebanon’s banking sector as a way to exert pressure against Hezbollah.

Lebanon is a major financial hub for the Middle East and its banks, like those in Switzerland, have a reputation for secrecy so it’s not surprising that attempts to contact the bank for comment were unsuccessful after working hours Tuesday.

Mounting Evidence That Hezbollah Is Involved

This is the second time in recent months that federal prosecutors in Alexandria have announced charges against major international drug trafficking rings.

In July, authorities announced they had taken down a major drug ring that was smuggling drugs from Ghana through Dulles International Airport near Washington and most of those charged in that ring, including the ringleader, were eventually extradited to the U.S. and are facing trial.

In addition, two men of Bangladeshi origin were caught by Customs and Border Protection illegally crossing the US-Mexico border last June and they confessed that they were members of a terrorist organization that’s allied with Bin Laden against America.

This latest Mexican-Hezbollah revelation should make one thing clear though:

Hezbollah’s infiltration of Latin American is an increasing threat, and in the absence of greatly improved border security measures, it is likely to worsen.

Rice: Iraq withdrawal threatens US gains – The Hill's Video

thehill.com11/6/11

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Sunday that President Obama's plan to pull all U. S..

Obama's Tragic Iraq Withdrawal – Council on Foreign Relations

www.cfr.org10/31/11

Max Boot says the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq is not a triumph but a defeat for the United States.

So Why did the US Lose In Iraq?

It must, in all fairness be said, that Barack Obama was critical of the Iraq war from its beginning.

But when he became president in January 2009, he was handed a war that had already been won!

The surge had succeeded!

The US Had It Won!

Al-Qaeda in Iraq had been routed, driven to a humiliating defeat by an Anbar Awakening of Sunnis fighting side-by-side with the infidel Americans!

And perhaps even more remarkably, the Shiite militias had been taken down, with U.S. backing, by the forces of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki!

The Sadr militias from Basra to Sadr City had been crushed!

So Obama Inherited A Very Simple Task

He simply needed to negotiate a new (SOFA) Status-of-forces agreement in order to reinforce the gains and to create a strategic partnership with the Arab world’s only democracy.

But he blew it, and negotiations, such as they were, finally collapsed in October 2011.

There is no longer an agreement, and no partnership, and as of Dec. 31, and the U.S. military presence in Iraq will to all intents and purposes be ended.

So How Did The Obama Administration Blow It?

The deadline didn’t suddenly sneak up on Obama because he had three years to prepare for it, and everyone involved, both Iraqi and American, knew that the 2008 SOFA which called for full U.S. withdrawal was meant to be renegotiated.

And all the major parties but one, the Sadr faction, had an interest in maintaining a residual stabilizing U.S. force, similar to the postwar deployments in Japan, Germany and Korea.

Joe Biden Was Handed The Negotiating Job

During the last three years, there were two abject and serious failures.

The First Major Failure Was Caused By

The administration’s inability, at the height of American post-surge power, to broker a centrist nationalist coalition governed by the major blocs.

Between

The predominantly Shiite (Maliki’s).

The predominantly Sunni (Ayad Allawi’s).

And the Kurds who won a large majority (69 percent) of the seats in the 2010 election.

Vice President Biden was given this relatively simple job, but even this was way beyond his limited capabilities.

(Why did Obama choose Biden as his vice president?).

The Iraqi government ended up effectively being run by a narrow sectarian coalition wherein the balance of power is held by a relatively small (12%) Iranian-client Sadr faction.

The Second Failure Was

Obama’s Status-Of-Forces Agreement!

U.S. commanders recommended approximately 20,000 troops, which would have been considerably fewer than our 28,500 in Korea, 40,000 in Japan and 54,000 in Germany but our president rejected those proposals, and chose instead a level of 3,000 to 5,000 troops.

The President’s Decision Was Therefore Doomed To Failure!

Because a deployment so incredibly small will effectively have to expend ALL its energies simply protecting itself.

The Lebanese Deployment

Similar to our tragic and somewhat aimless 1982 Lebanon deployment, we’ll now be left with.

No capability to train the Iraqis.

No capability to build their U.S. equipped air force.

And no capability to mediate ethnic disputes.

Did Obama Really Want A Successful Outcome?

Almost certainly, "No", he didn’t!

Because Obama’s proposal was an unmistakable signal of unseriousness, and it quickly became clear that he just wanted out.

Some Proof Of What I’m Writing?

Massoud Barzani, who has been the leader of the Kurds for two decades and was the staunchest of U.S. allies, just visited Tehran to bend a knee to both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Obama’s Lame Excuse

Our friends should not have been left out in the cold to seek Iranian protection.

Three years and a won war gave Obama the opportunity to establish a lasting strategic alliance with the Arab world’s second most important power.

Obama’s excuse is the Iraqi refusal to grant legal immunity to U.S. forces, but the Bush administration encountered the same problem and overcame it.

Obama obviously had little desire to so however, and is now attempting to portray the withdrawal as a success.

So Why Didn’t Obama Want To Win?

Obama opposed the war which is understandable.

But when he became commander in chief, the terrible price had already been paid in blood and treasure, so surely his obligation was to make something of that sacrifice, to secure the strategic gains that sacrifice had already achieved?!

The Bottom Line

Years from now, we will most likely still be asking, not,

"How did the US lose the war in Iraq?".

But, "Why did the Obama Administration do it?".