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Hell to pay if terrorists link to drug cartels isnt checked
Collaboration between Latin American drug cartels and groups such as Iran's Quds Force and the Islamic terror group Hezbollah is growing far faster than most policymakers in Washington, D.C., choose to admit, a former U.S. intelligence official testified Tuesday.Michael A. Braun, former chief of operations and intelligence for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told lawmakers that the operational capability of such groups is being strengthened by the close relations that they are working hard to develop with very powerful organized criminal organizations in our neighborhood and throughout Latin America. The ultraviolent Los Zetas Mexican drug cartel and others allow them to operate freely in our neighborhood, and theyre getting closer to our doorstep, he said during a hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. If we dont do something about it and really get serious about it, I think theres gonna be hell to pay at some date in the probably not too distant future, said Mr. Braun, who retired from the DEA in 2008 and is a managing partner at the international drug law enforcement consulting group Spectre International. The committees chairwoman, Rep. Ileana Ros-Letinen, asserted that Irans ongoing diplomatic alliance with several Latin American leaders could be giving the Islamic republics intelligence forces and proxy groups a platform in the region to carry out attacks against the United States. Some may question the congressional focus on the Iran-Latin America nexus because they wrongly believe that Irans influence in the region is exaggerated, said Mrs. Ros-Letinen, Florida Republican. She called for the hearing amid mounting international concern over Irans nuclear program and on the heels of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads recent tour through Latin America. Many policy analysts and Democrats have expressed skepticism over the extent to which a foothold has been gained in the region by Iranian intelligence elements, including the elite Quds Force, part of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Posted by: 2012-02-03 |
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