Poster of Hizbullah spiritual leader Nasrallah
Photo: AP
US intelligence eyes Hizbullah
If cornered by the West over its nuclear program, Iran could direct Hizbullah to enlist its widespread international support network to aid in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials say
If cornered by the West over its nuclear program, Iran could direct Hizbullah to enlist its widespread international support network to aid in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials say.
In interviews with The Associated Press, several Western intelligence officials said they have seen signs that Hizbullah's fundraisers, recruiters and criminal elements could be adapted to provide logistical help to terrorist operatives.
So far there are no signs the Iranian-backed group plans an imminent attack on US interests, but the possibility has counterterrorism agencies keeping close watch as the friction with Iran grows. US analysts believe the potential is greater for Iran to use terrorism to retaliate, rather than to strike first. But they have considered scenarios under which Iran may view its own pre-emptive attack as a deterrent. One senior official said that if Iran were backed into a corner and considered US-led military action as inevitable, the Iranians might calculate that terrorism could break international unity, increase pressure on the United States or shift Americans' public opinion.
With some exceptions, Hizbullah has not targeted the United States in recent years - a strategic decision that gives the group more freedom to operate, according to one US Counterterrorism official. A former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said before and right after the Sept. 11 attacks that Hizbullah was believed to have the largest embedded terrorist network inside the United States.
"I have no reason to believe that there has been a dismantlement of that capability," said former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham.
Steven Monblatt, head of the Organization of American States' Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism, said tensions with Iran could lead Hizbullah to begin preparing attacks on Western interests in Latin America and elsewhere. "I think it is legitimate to be concerned about situations where terrorist groups will not have an operational base, but will have made the preparations to establish one," said Monblatt, a former State Department official.
"I don't know anyone alleging an operational cell right now. Now, how do you distinguish an operational cell from a sleeper operation - a more kind of logistical base?"
One official said the group has access to several hundred million dollars a year, much of it going to the social service network in southern Lebanon. Kevin Brock, a career FBI agent who is now deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, recently told reporters that the United States has active investigations into Hizbullah around the world.
"The prioritization obviously has been al-Qaida, but that doesn't mean Hizbullah has dropped off the screen by any stretch of the imagination," Brock said.
