Global Security Studies, Fall 2012, Volume 3, Issue 4
Hezbollah and Al Shabaab in Mexico and the Terrorist Threat to the United States
Dawn L. Bartell
Norwich University
Masters of Diplomacy
School of Graduate Studies
Northfield, Vermont 05663-0367
Spiritbear68@hotmail.com
David H. Gray
Campbell University
Buies Creek, NC 27506
grayd@campbell.edu
Abstract
Hezbollah and Al Shabaab have been discovered to have a footprint in Mexico, are receiving Mexican language and cultural assimilation training, have been discovered to have a relationship of convenience with the Mexican drug cartels, and have been smuggling their operatives into the United States to raise money and to recruit members to their cause. With raising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, Iran has stated that it currently has the ability to reach out and target the U.S. on U.S. soil. Since it is unlikely Iran will send military troops to the U.S. and lacks the capacity to strike the U.S. with an intercontinental ballistic missile, with Hezbollah residing in Mexico Iran could use Hezbollah as a proxy to strike targets within the United States. With Al Shabaab aligning itself with al Qaeda, residing in Mexico, and successfully smuggling operatives into the U.S. This provides a force multiplier and an established strategic cell structure for al Qaeda to reside near and within the U.S. and target the U.S. on U.S. soil. Therefore, Hezbollah and Al Shabaab residing in Mexico pose a direct terrorist threat to the United States.
Key Terms:
Hezbollah, Al Shabaab, Smuggling, Language, Culture, Training, Recruiting, Cartels, Jihad, Anti-Israeli
There is a growing terrorist security threat to the United States because Hezbollah and Al Shabaab have established a footprint in Mexico and have been successful in using Mexico as a safe haven and as a transit area to smuggle weapons and terrorist operatives into the United States.
There are several reasons why Hezbollah staging itself in Mexico presents a direct threat to the United States. First, Iran is Hezbollah’s number one sponsor state, which presents a threat to the United States because Iran has been known to use Hezbollah as a proxy entity to strike targets of interest for Iran. Second, Hezbollah’s anti-Israeli goals make the United States and its interests a legitimate target in Hezbollah’s opinion since the United States is a supporter of the state of Israel. Third, Hezbollah’s relationship with Mexico’s drug cartels presents a threat to the United States because the drug cartels are a force multiplier for Bartell and Gray
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Hezbollah. The Mexican drug cartels have facilitated the acquisition of weapons and weapon components and the smuggling of weapons, weapon components, and Hezbollah operatives into the United States. These smuggling operations place Hezbollah terrorists and the resources they need to carry out terrorist operations within the borders of the United States. And fourth, the potential of Hezbollah establishing itself in Mexico gives Hezbollah safe haven within close proximity to the United States. This makes it easier for Hezbollah to plan and stage terrorist operations against the United States.
Similar to Hezbollah, Al Shabaab presents a direct threat to the United States for several reasons by staging itself within Mexico. First, the recruitment efforts of Al Shabaab to target Islamic residents of the United States is easier when Al Shabaab is geographically co-located within proximity of the targets of its recruitment. Al Shabaab recruiting Islamic residents of the United States creates radicalized and terrorist trained individuals that can travel, reside, and operate freely in the United States. Second, Al Shabaab’s affiliation with al Qaeda aligns Al Shabaab with al Qaeda’s global jihad in which the United States, it allies, and interests are a primary target. With Al Shabaab absorbing the philosophy of al Qaeda’s global jihad, an Al Shabaab terrorist element in the state of Mexico makes it easier for Al Shabaab to successfully target the United States. Third, Al Shabaab residing in Mexico makes it easier to smuggle Al Shabaab operatives into the United States via the U.S./Mexican border. These smuggling operations have created a situation where US officials are unable to track the number of Al Shabaab terrorists that may already be in the United States, making it difficult for the United States to mitigate this threat. And forth, the potential of Al Shabaab establishing itself in Mexico gives Al Shabaab safe haven within close proximity to the United States. This makes it easier for Al Shabaab to plan and stage terrorist operations against the United States. The common contributing factor that has allowed for Hezbollah and Al Shabaab to reside within the state of Mexico is Mexico’s inability to secure much of its sovereign territory or its border between Mexico and the United States.
The Creation and Development of Hezbollah
One terrorist group residing in Mexico that presents a direct threat to the United States is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a Shi’a militant group that is also considered a Muslim political entity, but because of its violent activities is also considered a terrorist group. "Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political group with a militant wing the United States defines as a terrorist organization" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010). The event that led to the creation and development of Hezbollah stems from "the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, when thousands of Palestinians were pushed into the neighboring countries of Lebanon and Jordan" (Fetini, 2009). The Anti Defamation League (ADL) goes further to explain that Hezbollah was able to do establish itself "with the help of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military unit" (ADL, Hezbollah, 2012). Since Hezbollah’s creation, Hezbollah has continued to enjoy substantial support and sponsorship from Iran.
Iran's elite military unit – the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) – supports Hezbollah with training, weapons and financial support. The IRGC's special operations branch provides Hezbollah with $100-$200 million in funding every year and has allegedly trained Hezbollah fighters in various Hezbollah and Al Shabaab in Mexico and the Terrorist Threat to the United States
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military tactics, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. (ADL, Hezbollah, 2012)
Another country Hezbollah relies heavily on for different types of support is Syria. Hezbollah "receives diplomatic, political and logistical support from Syria, according to the U.S. State Department. Syria reportedly supplies Hezbollah with a quarter of the terrorist organization's arsenal of mid-and long-range missiles" (ADL, Hezbollah, 2012). On the political side, Hezbollah maintains a presence and political influence within Lebanon. "Its base is in Lebanon's Shiite-dominated areas, including parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010). Hezbollah’s main goal is "eradicating the Israeli presence in Lebanon through a series of crude guerrilla attacks, including suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations" (Fetini, 2009). Since Hezbollah’s creation in 1982, Hezbollah has persistently pursued the goal of eradicating the Israeli presence in Lebanon and up to the present time has continued to wage "an anti-Israel campaign and guerilla war against Israeli forces" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010).
However, Hezbollah did realize in order be completely successful in reaching this goal of eradicating Israeli forces in Lebanon it could not remain strictly a guerilla force, it had to expand into politics in order to achieve strength, legitimacy, and political influence in the region. Hezbollah began pursuing political legitimacy in 1992 when Hezbollah got a new leader.
Nasrallah took over as the group's secretary-general. Capitalizing on its growing clout among sympathetic Lebanese and claiming a spot under the ideological umbrella of Iran's ayatollah, Nasrallah entered Hizballah into Lebanon's general election that year; the group won eight parliamentary seats, solidifying its legitimacy. (Fetini, 2009)
In addition to becoming a political entity, Hezbollah provides basic services and assistance to Lebanon’s Shi’a population in order to maintain and grow its support. Hezbollah "is a major provider of social services, operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010).Hezbollah also provides these basic services, assistance, and military protection in order to maintain its political influence in the region and retain its parliamentary seats. "Hezbollah's political standing was bolstered after a wave of violence in May 2008 prompted Lebanon's lawmakers to compromise with the group. In August 2008, the country's parliament approved a national unity cabinet, giving Hezbollah and its allies veto power with eleven of thirty cabinet seats" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010).
Although Hezbollah may be a recognized political entity and a legitimate force by Lebanon and most Arab states, "many Western governments, meanwhile, consider it a terrorist group; it was placed on the U.S. State Department's terrorist list in 1999" (Fetini, 2009). The perspective of many Western governments that Hezbollah is a terrorist group is well founded due to the historical terrorist operations Hezbollah has been involved in. Hezbollah has:
Been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks against Western targets, Bartell and Gray
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including the 1983 bombings at the U.S. Embassy and the multinational force barracks in Beirut. Hezbollah is also responsible for the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, during which a U.S. Navy diver was killed, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen. (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010)
What is disturbing about these terrorist operations is that it shows Hezbollah’s willingness to conduct terrorist operations outside the region of Lebanon and Israel and to also to target Western targets. Although it is well established that Hezbollah is based mainly in Lebanon, "U.S. intelligence reports say that Hezbollah cells operate in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America" (CFR, Hezbollah, 2010). Hezbollah’s willingness to operate internationally has become a direct threat to the United States. According to a former U.S. intelligence agent, "Hezbolah has operated in South America for decades and then Central America, along with their sometime rival, sometime ally Hamas. Now, the group is blending into Shi'a Muslim communities in Mexico, including Tijuana" (San Diego News, 2011). The threat to the United States by Hezbollah establishing itself in Mexico, according to the Tucson Police Department is "due to the U.S.’ political and financial support of Israel, Hezbollah regards our nation as a viable target" (Rios, 2010). What compounds this danger is the fact that Iran is also vehemently anti-Israel and Iran has been known to use Hezbollah as a proxy to strike targets directed by Iran.
Iran was previously accused in a disrupted plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. here last year, a plan interpreted in the U.S. intelligence community as a clear message that Iran is not afraid to carry out an attack inside this country. U.S. officials long have worried that Iran would use Hezbollah to carry attacks into the United States. (Sullivan, 2012)
Hezbollah in Mexico
The presence of Hezbollah in Mexico makes it easier for Iran to use Hezbollah as a proxy to strike targets within the United States if Iran were ever to see fit to do so. "Iran has been blamed for violent acts in the U.S. before. In 1980, for instance, an American convert to Islam gunned down an Iranian critic of Iran's religious leaders in Bethesda, MD" (Sullivan, 2012). The presence of terrorist groups in Mexico is not a recent trend.
Statements made by high-ranking Mexican officials prior to and following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks indicate that one or more Islamic terrorist organizations has sought to establish a presence in Mexico. In May 2001, former Mexican National security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, reported, that "Spanish and Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge." (McCaul, 2006)
Nor is the presence of Hezbollah in Mexico a recent trend. In 2011 a former U.S. intelligence agent stated in a report aired by 10 News San Diego that, "we are looking at 15 or 20 years that Hezbollah has been setting up shop in Mexico" (San Diego News, 2011). Hezbollah is not the only terrorist group establishing itself in Mexico. Hezbollah and Al Shabaab in Mexico and the Terrorist Threat
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