My latest post at Real Clear World Blog, Hugo {Hearts} Hamas is up. Please read it, and leave a comment.
The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean will be up later today.
Colombia smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties
Extraordinary news from Colombia:
Colombia smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties
Colombian authorities said on Tuesday they broke up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three people suspected of shipping funds to Hezbollah guerrillas.
More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia’s Norte del Valle cartel and for outlawed paramilitaries in a network that stretched from South America to Asia, the attorney’s general office said.
“The criminal organisation used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances,” the statement said.
Among those arrested in Colombia were three people suspected of coordinating drug smuggling to send some of their profits to groups such as Hezbollah, the office said.
Those suspects — Chekry Mahmoud Harb, Ali Mohamad Abdul Rahim and Zacaria Hussein Harb — used front companies to send drug cash overseas, it said without providing further details.
Also among the arrested, Guatemalan drug kingpin Otto Roberto Herrera García one of the 40 most wanted criminals in the world.
In addition to Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Middle East and Europe, the cartel transacted in the US, Canada, Africa, and Asia, which is unsual, considering that Asian countries involved are also drug producers. Not unsual, however, would be that the international drug rings may be using similar money laundering processes and resources.
Also arrested were members of paramilitary groups in Colombia.
Here’s the official Colombian government press release on the raid (in Spanish). I’m not sure why the WaPo finds it necessary to title their Reuters reprint as “Colombia says smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties.”
This is an extraordinary mission indeed.
First of all, the Colombian armed forces have performed another hugely successful operation this year. The US training and technology are well used, and the military have proved themselves trustworthy. This alone is a tremendous improvement from the condition they were in eight years ago.
This was an international operation: Colombia’s seeking out and cooperating with international law enforcement agencies. This particular operation had been in the works for two years,
A statement from the [Colombian] attorney general’s office said the international police operation, codenamed Titan, had been under way for more than two years.
Its aim was to break up a drug-trafficking and money-laundering ring that operated globally, from Colombia to the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East.
…
Ninety people were detained overseas, while raids in the cities of Bogota, Cali, Medellin and Pereira led to 21 further arrests.
From the internal security standpoint, Colombian law enforcement is also going after the paramilitaries. Are you paying attention, Obama and the House Democrats?
Last but not least: International terrorism, Islamists (in this case, Shi’ite Hezbollah), crime, kidnapping, money laundering and the drug trade are not separate elements in South America; they are the threads from which one fabric is woven. American policymakers need to recognize that fact.
The US must show its support of Colombia in every way. Passing the FTA would be a good start.
Recent archived posts on Hezbollah in Latin America here, including the story on the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior‘s ties with Hezbollah.
See also November 2007: Piracy, the Tri-Border Area and terrorism and July 2006: Hezbollah in Latin America
Michael Totten’s primer on Lebanon’s Third Civil War
Very few people understand Lebanon as well as Michael Totten, who loves the country. Here’s his article in Commentary:
Lebanon’s Third Civil War
The first war was a short one. Sunni Arab Nationalists in thrall to Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser wanted to attach Lebanon to the United Arab Republic – a brief union of Egypt and Syria. An even larger bloc of Maronite Christians resisted. A nation cannot hold itself together when a large percentage of its population – roughly a third – wish to be annexed by foreign powers.
The second war was a long one. This time, Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization formed a state-within-a-state in West Beirut and South Lebanon and used it as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel. Again, Lebanon’s Christians resisted, as did Lebanon’s Shias. The second civil war was actually a series of wars that were merely triggered by that first fatal schism.
The third civil war resembles both the first and the second. With Iranian money and weapons, Hezbollah has built its own state-within-a-state in South Lebanon and South Beirut which is used as a base to wage war against Israel. Hezbollah also wishes to violently yank Lebanon from its current pro-Western alignment into the Syrian-Iranian axis. Roughly one-fourth of the population supports this agenda. No country on earth can withstand that kind of geopolitical tectonic pressure. For more than a year members of Hezbollah have tried unsuccessfully to topple the elected government with a minimal use of force, but their patience is at an end and they have turned to war.
Michael concludes,
There may be lulls in the violence, but there will be no real peace in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed or destroyed.
Hezbollah is not going to disarm.
Yid With Lid thanks France for Hezbollah’s takeover of Lebanon.
We talked about Lebanon in last Friday’s podcast – and we’re not optimistic.
More on the Imad Mughniyah demise
Following up on the Imad Mughniyah news, TIME is posting a story with a Hezbollah Media Office/AP byline. At least we know who sent it. The son of a bitch is referred to as a “militant”, of course, a “freedom fighter” whose “misdeeds” granted him such a “mythical status that sometimes it was not always certain if he really existed at all”.
He existed, alright, and he killed hundreds of people.
During the Mughniyeh funeral Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says he’s ready for “open war with Israel”:
He insisted: “The blood of Imad Mughniyeh will make them [Israel] withdraw from existence.”
Not that Nasrallah was all that conciliatory towards Israel to begin with.
Nasrallah’s accusations are just one of the many conspiracy theories going around the Mughniyeh explosion: Siggy’s posting about All Kinds Of Certainty,
It was inevitable and certain the assassination of Imad Mugniyah would spawn some terric conspiracy theories. In the latest iteration of the Arab world addition/obsessions, Hamas is now being accused with the assassination of Imad Mugniyah. Why? Because Hamas wants a relationship with United States and the assassination of a terror bigwig(pig) like Mugniyah is just the kind of gift Hamas believes would do the trick.
Then there’s the childhood trauma theory (which, as to be expected, is blamed on the Jews) and some more speculation on Syria, too.
But one thing is clear, whoever did it, did mankind a favor. Even the French agree.
UPDATE
Hezbollah Mourners Shout “Death to America! Death to Israel!” at Mughniyeh’s Funeral
Mughniyeh Killed in Damascus
From Belmont Club,
Imad Muganiyeh, known to Americans as the man who killed Navy diver Robert Stethem; the man who tortured and killed CIA station chief William Francis Buckley, and possible mastermind of the 1983 Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut died in car bomb explosion in a posh suburb of Damascus.
Mughniyeh is also believed to have been behind the 1992 bombing of Israel’s embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed, and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish center two years later that killed 95.
Recently Argentina has been investigating the 1994 explosion, which is the largest terrorist attack ever staged in Latin America against a Jewish group.
Wretchard points out that Mughniyeh’s demise came on the anniversary of Rafik Hariri’s death.
Coincidence? Not at all. To the contrary: this is a message, loud and clear. As Wretchard said,
…one of the things Hezbollah might reflect upon as they regard the charred and mangled corpse of Mughniyeh is that while one can evade payment for a time, the repo man always comes in the end.
The Guardian has a Profile: Imad Mughniyeh. The (London) Times asserts that “His death is a huge blow to the Iranian-backed militant group, given Mughniyeh’s years of experience and organisational skills.”
UPDATE
Phillip Jacobson says Mossad did it, but I think Mughniyeh had enough enemies that one can’t rule out anyone, including the Iranians themselves.
Update 2
If the Israel’s Mossad got him, they killed a number of birds with one stone.
One more rat sent to Hell
Gateway Pundit aces Lebanon
Gateway Pundit has today’s must-read: Fireworks in Lebanon… Pro-Syrian President Steps Down
Some 2000 Anti-Lebanese-president and pro-government supporters, set fireworks dancing beating drums and shouting ‘Lahoud out’ as they gathered in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood celebrating the departure of president Emile Lahoud, in Beirut, Lebanon, Late Friday Nov. 23, 2007.
Go follow his links.
More at From Beirut to the Beltway
A Beeb and blog round-up
Students go on rampage in China
Hundreds of students have rioted against the police in central China.
Witnesses said the unrest, in the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province, was sparked on Wednesday after a student was beaten by police.
She had been selling items on the street, apparently without a license. There was an argument and reports say officials broke her front teeth.
At this point other students began to gather round and witnesses say hundreds clashed with police and burned cars.
While the G8 guys fret about Global Warming, Cold snap prompts Peru emergency and April freeze hurts Kentucky farmers
Meanwhile the North Koreans are firing missiles and the Lebanese are bombing Palestinians and no one at the G8’s complaining. Imagine if Israel was doing that…
Speaking of the G8, this would be a good picture for a caption contest:
The Anchoress has an excellent discussion over immigration, and another one on Pres.Bush that are must-reads.
Gerard has the Memo from Israel to Palestine (h/t Larwyn)
PBS: EXCLUSION AND POLITICAL DISCRIMINATION
Via Maria, Who is Nicolas Sarkozy? What to expect from France’s new president, scion of one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece
In a lighter mode:
Separated at birth?
On the other hand, has anyone seen Hugh Laurie and Siggy in the same place at the same time?
Today in the Beeb?
Israel army attacks deep in camp
The fighting has intensified over recent days and nights
The Israeli army is shelling militant positions deep within the besieged Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, as its operation to force a surrender continues.
The army says militants from the Fatah al-Islam group have been cleared from the edges of the Palestinian camp during heavy fighting since Friday.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the group as a “terrorist gang”, and said there would be no negotiation.
A militant spokesman said they would fight to “the last drop of blood”.
“We will not surrender,” vowed Fatah al-Islam spokesman Abu Salim Taha.
No, the BBC was not talking about Israel and Olmert, it was talking about Lebanon and its PM, Fouad Siniora. But imagine the outcry if Israel had been defending itself.
Via Dr Sanity, Steve Huntley looks at the Double standard in Mideast
The rocket attacks are what preoccupies the Israelis these days. In only two weeks, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 250 primitive Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, aiming principally for the town of Sderot. Two people have been killed. Others have been wounded, many temporarily evacuated and probably all of them traumatized by the terror of any moment being shattered by an incoming rocket.
Israel is constantly warned by the likes of the European Parliament not to react “disproportionately” to Palestinian violence, without anyone ever quite defining what would be proportionate.
Syria’s Useful Idiots: Why are so many commentators denying the obvious about Lebanon? Michael Totten writes that Al Qaeda has moved into Lebanon
For more insanities, Dr Sanity has the Carnival
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