Article

2018-01-12 Terror Networks

Ex-DEA Agent Says Obama Admin. Lost ‘Gold Opportunity' to ‘Crush' Hezbollah

[Free Beacon] The retired head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's special-operations division said on Wednesday the Obama administration squandered a chance to dismantle Hezbollah due in part to political motivations to clinch a nuclear deal with Iran.

Derek Maltz, who was in charge of a major law enforcement operation targeting Hezbollah's trafficking of cocaine, said the United States cannot again succumb to political distractions that allow the Iranian-backed terrorist to continue its narcoterrorism campaign.

"There's an old saying, opportunities come and go," Maltz testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "In my personal opinion, having been the guy in charge of the special operations for ten years, we lost a gold opportunity to crush Hezbollah."

Politico in December first reported the Obama administration's quiet dismantling of these efforts, dubbed Project Cassandra, out of apprehension over rattling Iran as President Barack Obama pursued a landmark nuclear deal with the country. The piece, written by Politico’s Josh Meyer, extensively quoted Maltz, who said he had "no doubt" multilateral negotiations with Iran sidelined ongoing operations against Hezbollah's drug trafficking network.

"There is certainly an argument to be made that if tomorrow all the agencies were ordered to come together and sit in a room and put all the evidence on the table against all these bad guys, that there could be a hell of a lot of indictments," Maltz told Politico.

Maltz echoed this sentiment on Wednesday, telling lawmakers the United States needs better interagency cooperation to confront Hezbollah's terrorism ambitions and the transnational criminal organizations that generate tens of millions of dollars for the Iranian-backed group.

"Sadly, 16 years after 9/11, we're still talking about information sharing. It's a disaster," he testified. "If terrorists are turning to criminal networks for their funding, how can we have a system where the terrorist investigators and the intelligence community and others are not communicating properly with the law enforcement agencies?"

He said the Trump administration needs to identify who in the U.S. government is responsible for bringing together federal, state, and local agencies under an interagency task force to combat narcoterrorism.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-01-12 05:27|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top
File under: Hezbollah

#1 ....how can we have a system where the terrorist investigators and the intelligence community and others are not communicating properly with the law enforcement agencies?"

This is 'by design.' Tribal Afghanistan is a perfect example. Stamp out the opium trade and you destroy their entire economy. The narcotics trade is also the lifeblood of the US urban economy.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-01-12 05:33|| 2018-01-12 05:33|| Front Page Top

#2 Can you really call it squandering when it results in exactly what was desired?

Obola and his clique was desirous of a dominant Hezbollar in the ME, dismantling was the very last thing they wanted.

Posted by AlanC 2018-01-12 09:03|| 2018-01-12 09:03|| Front Page Top

#3 Wait a second didn't we form a new bureaucracy the DNI position to do that as part of the 9/11 hearings?

So what has the DNI been doing? Other than trying to get Hillary elected and Trump out of office?

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2018-01-12 09:39|| 2018-01-12 09:39|| Front Page Top

#4 Obama lost the opportunity? Barry refused it.

Has anyone else noticed the Islamic design of his fake "library?

Posted by Woodrow 2018-01-12 12:38|| 2018-01-12 12:38|| Front Page Top

#5 Looks like the middle finger salute to me. Garish at any rate.

Posted by swksvolFF 2018-01-12 14:02|| 2018-01-12 14:02|| Front Page Top

#6 Has anyone else noticed the Islamic design of his fake "library?

You mean a rabat, Woodrow?

Posted by trailing wife 2018-01-12 17:02|| 2018-01-12 17:02|| Front Page Top

#7 Yes, the Hussein Tower

Posted by Skidmark 2018-01-12 18:07|| 2018-01-12 18:07|| Front Page Top

#8 Not "Islamic" Architecture. The goofy-looking and somewhat pretentious building:

Per Wikipedia: New York-based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects were chosen in June 2016 to jointly lead the design and engineering of the center.[15][16] For the exhibition design, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, which worked on the National Museum of African American History, will lead a team including Civic Projects, Normal, and several local artists.

So, more an homage to his roots than to those he, seemingly, roots for.

Posted by Anomalous Sources 2018-01-12 21:26|| 2018-01-12 21:26|| Front Page Top

#9 So, more an homage to his roots than to those he, seemingly, roots for.

So a library without books is city slicker for all hat and no cattle?

Posted by swksvolFF 2018-01-12 22:49|| 2018-01-12 22:49|| Front Page Top

#10 @#9: Please, it's "libary."

Posted by Anomalous Sources 2018-01-12 23:13|| 2018-01-12 23:13|| Front Page Top

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