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January 8, 2009
Exclusive: CRC Open-Source Intelligence Briefs
W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Director, Counterterrorism Research Center
NORTH AMERICA: Christopher Holton at the Center for Security Policy is providing “must read” analysis at Shariah Finance Watch.
“Despite being under geographic siege and financial sanction, Hamas was still able to smuggle some 80 tons of explosives, roadside bombs and longer-range rockets into Gaza over the course of the past cease-fire. …”
GAZA and LEBANON: Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, Israel's military intelligence chief, reportedly says Hizballah – in an attempt to avenge the recent retaliatory attacks against Hamas in Gaza – might launch a “limited attack” against targets in northern Israel by way of a Palestinian proxy group.
According to Haaretz:
“‘Hizballah might carry out a low-profile attack by means of a Palestinian organization that would be limited and not set the border alight,’ Yadlin [told a cabinet meeting Sunday]. He added that forces also remained on high alert in light of a possible Hizballah strike against an Israeli target abroad. He said the date to watch for was February 14, the date last year on which senior Hizballah operative Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated.”
Not surprising, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel Wednesday.
According to Naharnet:
“‘I tell (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert, the loser, the defeated in Lebanon, that you cannot wipe out Hamas or Hizballah,’ Nasrallah vowed.
“‘Your jets will not frighten us, and your threats will not frighten us. We are ready for any aggression,’ Nasrallah said, adding that in the event of a new offensive on Lebanon ‘you will discover what is waiting for you.’
“‘You will realize that the 2006 war was but a walk in the park,’ he said, adding: ‘We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our brothers and sisters, our children, our loved ones for what we believe in.’”
So Hizballah is ready to sacrifice its “souls” and its “children.” Yet its sympathizers contend Hizballah is just a political organization.
Also according to a Treasury statement issued Tuesday:
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated the Waad Project, a Hizballah-run construction firm, under Executive Order 13224 (E.O. 13224), which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. ‘The Waad Project is another example of Hizballah's use of deceptive tactics to support its military and terrorist apparatus,’ said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. Hizballah established the Waad Project, in part, because Jihad al-Bina – Hizballah's main construction company – had difficulty receiving funds from donors following its designation under E.O. 13224 by the Treasury Department on February 20, 2007. Hizballah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah publicly endorsed the Waad Project in May 2007.”
We were reporting back in September-October 2007:
“Hizballah is building defenses and fortifications from which they can launch attacks in the south (where I was two days ago), in the Bekaa Valley, and in Al Dahiyeh (the Hizballah security square in Beirut).
“The construction (some of which I have seen with my own eyes) is being contracted through the Lebanese government with Wa'ad, a Hizballah-owned company created – as both a front and a company based in Lebanon — from Jihad Al-Bina, an Iranian-based company on the U.S. terrorist-watchlist.
”Wa'ad ("the promise") is 100-percent owned and operated by Hizballah. And the company is reconstructing houses and commercial buildings, which were destroyed during the war in 2006. But the houses are being rebuilt – as they were — with secret interconnecting corridors linking the houses together in a link-by-link network of fighting positions. There are tunnels running beneath the houses linking them with other buildings and adjacent neighborhoods, as well as to huge underground command posts. And there are walls being constructed with concealed weapons-storage spaces.”
”Wa'ad ("the promise") is 100-percent owned and operated by Hizballah. And the company is reconstructing houses and commercial buildings, which were destroyed during the war in 2006. But the houses are being rebuilt – as they were — with secret interconnecting corridors linking the houses together in a link-by-link network of fighting positions. There are tunnels running beneath the houses linking them with other buildings and adjacent neighborhoods, as well as to huge underground command posts. And there are walls being constructed with concealed weapons-storage spaces.”
Treasury’s designation is welcome, but long overdue.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.
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