President Obama colluded to prevent the arrest of a known Hezbollah terrorist. That is the bombshell dropped just last week in a story from Politico.
The story uncovered the Obama administration’s relationship to a DEA operation named Cassandra. Launched in 2008 the operation sought to document Hezbollah’s transformation into a narco-terrorist organization trafficking in cocaine. Cocaine that was sold in Europe and the United States.
“Terrorists have long been engaged in large scale criminal enterprises to finance their operations – this is well known to our law enforcement and intelligence communities,” said Daniel Gallington, former DOJ official in an interview with the American Media Institute, “ To exempt whole categories of these criminal activities from enforcement would require a persuasive explanation consistent with our national security. I can’t imagine what that would be, and I’ve heard just about everything!”
Politico reports that the Obama administration systematically blocked efforts to neutralize Hezbollah’s drug smuggling efforts, a clear national security threat, in order to preserve the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement. Under the terms of that agreement, Iran agreed to delay certain aspects of its nuclear energy program.
Then CIA Director John Brennan is mentioned in the article as appearing to believe that the U.S. could support “moderate elements” of Hezbollah and assist in their integration into the Lebanese political landscape. Hezbollah has been designated a terrorist organization by since 1997.
In light of the revelations contained in the article Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) & Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) are calling for a congressional investigation which may shed more light on the Obama administration’s role in nixing the operation aimed at Hezbollah
“I’ve long believed that the Obama administration could not have done any more to bend over backwards to appease the Iranian regime,” said congressman DeSantis in a statement, “yet news that the Obama administration killed the investigation into a billion dollar drug ring that lined the terrorist group Hezbollah’s pockets in order to save its coveted Iran deal may very well take the cake,”
Hezbollah’s ties to the Iranian state are well established. Experts say Hezbollah serves the interests of the Iranian MOIS (Ministry of Intelligence and Security).
Hezbollah emerged as a terrorist organization in the 1970s in Lebanon. Hezbollah mastermind Imad Mugniyah organized the 1983 attack on the United States Marine compound in Beirut that killed 241 American soldiers. However, since 2013 it has become increasingly involved in the Syrian Civil War where its military units have fought to support the dictatorship of President Bashir Al Assad.
To fund these and other operations, the report suggests that Hezbollah is increasingly relying on the international drug trade.
“…,[Hezbollah is] as an organization with capability and worldwide presence, is (al Qaeda’s) equal, if not a far more capable organization,” said then CIA director George Tenet in 2003.
Between 1995 and 2002 Hezbollah was involved with cigarette smuggling in the United States — buying in lower tax states and selling them in high tax states in order to fund terrorist activities according to the ATF.
This is not the first time that Iran has tried to use proxies to destabilize America’s national security. The United States attorney general prosecuted two individuals linked to the Iranian government who were planning to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in 2011.