In the early days of the War on Terror, back when the United States was only fighting one war, in Afghanistan, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made a bold statement: “Hezbollah may be the ‘A-Team of terrorists,’” Armitage said, referring to the Lebanese-based, Iranian-controlled organization, “and maybe al-Qaeda is actually the ‘B’-Team.” Hezbollah has certainly been killing Americans for longer than al-Qaeda has - beginning in 1983...

Iran, the ultimate mischief maker with global reach, astounding patience, a shameless marriage to mayhem and terrorism, and interests that fall squarely in opposition to those of the United States, is making major diplomatic inroads under Washington's nose. It's amazing, really. Iran, after all, is regarded by most of the world as an outlaw country. Sanctions are in place on much of its military-industrial complex, and international loan guarantees are virtually impossible to come by. The...

I have been traveling, but am somewhat surprised at how little attention the recent multi-country drug bust firmly tying Hezbollah to Latin American drug trafficking structures has received. This is the clearest publicly-available case that shows how organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations are broadening and strengthening their links. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), responsible for several significant busts recently, led this one too. The operation has been underway...

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RUSSIA'S alliance with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez just keeps getting tighter - and worse for America. Now, Moscow could be putting "El Loco" on the road to getting the bomb. Russia has already sold billions worth of arms to Chavez, and recently flew two strategic bombers to Venezuela in a show of solidarity and force. A Russian flotilla will soon arrive in Caribbean waters for joint naval exercises. But the latest deviltry came at a Moscow summit late last month, when Russian...

To: The Governments of Afghanistan and Iran and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights* We, the undersigned academics from all disciplines from around the world do hereby call upon and demand that the governments of Afghanistan release student Sayed Perwiz Kambasksh and for Iran to release student, Esha Momeni, and Prof. Mehdi Zakeriam Furthermore,we call upon the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to look into these and other apparent human rights abuses and harassments...

Islam in Argentina is represented by one of Latin America's largest Muslim minorities. Although accurate statistics on religion are not available (because the national census does not solicit religious data) the actual size of Argentina 's Muslim community is estimated around 1.5% of the total population (500,000 to 600,000) Early Muslim immigration Though early Spanish and Portuguese explorers and immigrants to the New World were very familiar with Muslims and Islamic culture (due to 800...

As part of al-Qaeda's constantly expanding propaganda campaign, the organization’s messages are translated into various languages, including Spanish. On September 8, 2008, Ibn Al-Athir Al-Ansari, a member of the Al-Hesbah online forum since March 2007, posted a Spanish translation of a speech made by Salah Abu Muhammad to the Muslim public in the Maghreb on September 2, 2008. Salah Abu Muhammad is responsible for propaganda for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Before the...

The networks of global terrorism--both formal and informal--leave no region untouched. The Western Hemisphere is no exception, as we recently learned from the tragic events of September 11th. The Americas, from Canada to Tierra del Fuego, is a breeding ground for Islamic radical and extremist organizations that take advantage of the region's ill-equipped, and poorly trained security agencies. Canadian intelligence officials acknowledge that their country is riddled with terrorists and have...

The attacks of September 15th in Morelia were an announced act. What is surprising is that a similar terrorist act had not happened previously. You should remember that in this space we have discussed the possibility of terrorist acts in Mexico, and I’ve made reference to it in several occasions. Robert Grenier, ex-director of the Antiterrorist Unit of Grenier Co., commented to us in an interview that “there are many reasons to be worried. Large organizations with many criminal...