SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
Page 1 TOP OF DOC
30–143PDF
2006
HEZBOLLAH'S GLOBAL REACH
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND NONPROLIFERATION
AND THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST
AND CENTRAL ASIA
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
Page 2 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
Serial No. 109–233
Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,
Vice Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
RON PAUL, Texas
Page 3 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
DARRELL ISSA, California
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
TED POE, Texas
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
Page 4 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
PETER T. KING, New York
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
DARRELL ISSA, California, Vice Chairman
MICHAEL McCAUL, Texas
Page 5 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
TED POE, Texas
JERRY WELLER, Illinois
J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM SMITH, Washington
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
TOM SHEEHY, Subcommittee Staff Director
DON MACDONALD, Democratic Professional Staff Member
EDWARD A. BURRIER, Professional Staff Member
GENELL BROWN, Staff Associate
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chair
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Vice Chair
THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
CONNIE MACK, Florida
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
Page 6 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MIKE PENCE, Indiana
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida
DARRELL ISSA, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri
YLEEM POBLETE, Subcommittee Staff Director
YEVGENY GUREVICH, Professional Staff Member
DAVID ADAMS, Democratic Professional Staff Member
LEE COHEN, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
WITNESSES
Mr. Frank C. Urbancic, Jr., Principal Deputy Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, United States Department of State
Page 7 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. John G. Kavanagh, Section Chief, International Terrorism Operations Section II, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Eitan Azani, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Institute for Counterterrorism, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel
Mr. Christopher Hamilton, Senior Fellow, Counterterrorism Studies, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Mr. Ilan Berman, Vice President for Policy, American Foreign Policy Council
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
Mr. Frank C. Urbancic, Jr.: Prepared statement
Mr. John G. Kavanagh: Prepared statement
Eitan Azani, Ph.D.: Prepared statement
Mr. Christopher Hamilton: Prepared statement
Mr. Ilan Berman: Prepared statement
Page 8 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
APPENDIX
The Honorable Dennis A. Cardoza, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement
The Honorable Gary L. Ackerman, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York: Prepared statement
HEZBOLLAH'S GLOBAL REACH
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on International Terrorism
and Nonproliferation, and
Subcommittee on the Middle East
and Central Asia,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 10:33 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward R. Royce (Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation) presiding.
Page 9 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROYCE. This joint hearing of the International Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee and the Middle East and Central Asia Subcommittee will come to order.
The title of the hearing today is ''Hezbollah's Global Reach.'' The Hezbollah threat is grave, indeed. As the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has said, ''Death to America is not a slogan. For us, death to America is a policy, a strategy, and a vision.'' As our former Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage declared in 2002, ''Hezbollah may be the A-Team of terrorists and maybe al-Qaeda is actually the B-Team.'' Hezbollah is lethal, and it is magnified by the support that it receives from state sponsors of terrorism, particularly Iran. That is what gives it its capability and makes it so lethal.
Before September 11th, Hezbollah—which means ''Party of God''—was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group. This included the 1983 suicide attack on the United States Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 Americans and ushered in the modern age of suicide attacks, and it includes the 1985 attacks on TWA Flight 847 and the 1996 attack on Khobar Towers.
Hezbollah has again managed to seize the world's attention. I was in Haifa this summer, as it rained rockets, as Hezbollah struck Haifa and much of northern Israel with some 4,000 indiscriminately fired rockets in these terrorist attacks. When I was in Haifa, they were firing rockets not only at civilian populations; they also attempted to hit the hospital in Haifa.
I had an opportunity to see one of those rockets, and to pick up the shrapnel with 50,000 ball bearings in every one of them, these rockets are intended to maximize civilian casualties. Haifa is a very cosmopolitan city. In the hospital there, I saw Arab Israelis, Druz Israelis, Jewish Israelis, all recovering. There were around 500 people in that one hospital due to rocket attacks. Today, the Administration will testify that Iran and Syria have not stopped arming Hezbollah, despite U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
Page 10 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hezbollah is not just a menace to Israel, Lebanon and the region. According to the State Department's terrorism report, Hezbollah has ''established cells in Europe, in Africa, in South America, in North America, and in Asia.'' One witness will tell us that Hezbollah's organizational and logistical network exists today in 40 countries. This includes a significant presence in our own hemisphere, in the tri-border region of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. The network operates in West Africa, where Hezbollah has been active trading ''blood diamonds,'' an issue the Africa Subcommittee explored when I chaired it.
Many Americans may be surprised to learn that Hezbollah's global reach includes significant activities on U.S. soil. A recent news report asserted that the FBI had more than 200 active cases involving suspected Hezbollah members at one point last year. The vast majority of this activity has been linked to fundraising, specifically to attempts to use Visa cards and MasterCards for fraudulent funds to support Hezbollah along with other criminal fundraising activities. We must be concerned that this existing network could be used, should Hezbollah, perhaps prodded by Iran, decide to strike inside our country.
A particular focus of this Subcommittee has been Hezbollah's ability to enter the United States. Mahmoud Kourani, who was indicted in 2004 for being a ''member, fighter, recruiter, and fundraiser for Hezbollah,'' having trained in Iran, paid $3,000 to be smuggled into Mexico. He then paid a ''coyote'' to travel in the trunk of a car across the border of my state, California, and up to Dearborn, Michigan, where he began efforts to raise funds to send Hezbollah back to the organization. Kourani's brother is a top Hezbollah militia leader. Further, Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a Lebanese-Mexican operating out of Tijuana, smuggled at least 200 individuals, including a large number of Hezbollah sympathizers, into the United States. Even after the 9/11 Commission report on terrorist travel highlighted this link between human smugglers and terrorists, border security efforts remain woefully neglected.
Page 11 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Border security must be a pressing concern because the Islamist terrorist threat facing us is so deadly. Hezbollah is sophisticated. It is well armed. It possesses unmanned aerial vehicles and over 10,000 Katyusha rockets. It possesses cruise missiles, as we know because one was fired against an Israeli ship. It also has medium-range, Zelzal missiles and its own television station. Many of Hezbollah's weapons and training are courtesy of Iran. There are reports that Iran will soon transfer sophisticated, shoulder-fired missiles to Hezbollah. These are the types of missiles that can knock down a jetliner. A nuclear-armed Iran, should the day come, would be even more bold in supporting Hezbollah's activity in the Middle East and beyond.
Hezbollah may be the ''A-Team,'' and maybe it is only the ''B-Team'' of terrorism, but in today's era of proliferating WMD, even a C-Team is a worry, and Hezbollah certainly makes that grade.
I will now turn to Ranking Member Sherman for any opening statement, and then we will turn to the Chair of the Middle East and Central Asia Subcommittee, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for her statement. We will now go to Mr. Sherman.
Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, for holding these hearings to look at a terrorist organization which is second only to al-Qaeda in the number of deaths of Americans it has called and, as the Chairman points out, may very well be the A-Team of terrorism.
In my statement, I am going to be relatively wide ranging. Some will think, why is Sherman off on some tangent? But the theme of this statement is that we cannot prevail against Hezbollah in isolation from the global war on terrorism and that we cannot prevail in the global war on terrorism unless we think globally about every aspect of our economic and diplomatic policy.
Page 12 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
If you think we are strong enough to say, win the global war on terrorism without concerning ourselves with the annoyance of having to say, how does our policy toward Russia or China or Paraguay relate to that? If you think that we can let most of the desks at the State Department go on about their business unenlisted on the global war on terrorism and still prevail, then you have an excessive view of American diplomatic and economic and military power.
Turning to Hezbollah, we have seen its ability not only to displace hundreds of thousands of Israelis but to also disrupt the politics of Lebanon and to shake the world and get the attention of the world. They did so just at the time when Iran needed a distraction from its nuclear program, and it is not surprising that Hezbollah, not only funded by Iran but created by Iran, would step forward and act in Iran's interest.
Just days before the July 12 kidnapping of two IDF soldiers, Iran's President declared that there would soon be an explosion of anger against Israel. Indeed, there was, and, of course, the result was that, at the G–8 meeting, they spent their time focusing on Lebanon and not on Iran's nuclear program. The lesson is clear: At a time and a place of Iran's choosing, Hezbollah will strike out in Iran's interest.
Now, there is the dispute over what is terrorism, and what is an appropriate or disproportionate response to terrorism? Let me just say that, as the Chairman pointed out, Hezbollah's actions were designed, as their purpose, to kill as many civilians as possible. That is in stark contrast to United States, Israel, and other civilized nations' military actions in which the effort is to achieve a military objective, and any civilian casualties are an unfortunate and regretted byproduct.
Page 13 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Nasrallah made a point of apologizing for civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah, the two Muslim civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah rockets. In doing so, he made it clear that he had no apologies but nothing but rejoicing and glee whenever his rockets were able to kill civilians of any other religion.
Now, turning toward Iran, we have had a failed policy over the last two Administrations. I want to applaud Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for her bill, H.R. 282. She fought valiantly for the strongest bill we could get, but, frankly, the Administration would veto any bill that was not absolutely consistent with maintaining our current failed policy. In particular, they have recreated the circumstance where, when there is investment in the Iranian oil fields, the Administration will simply ignore it.
The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act has a process for reviewing and imposing sanctions against Iran, a country that, as I pointed out, is the chief sponsor of Hezbollah, and that last Administration and this one has a policy of simply saying, Oh, well, it is in the Wall Street Journal, but we do not have any information about any deal to invest in Iranian oil fields.
This is on top of our imports from Iran, on top of the Administration allowing American corporations to continue to do business with Iran through their subsidiaries, our acquiescence to loans from the World Bank to Iran. The litany goes on and on. Khatami just completed his five U.S. city, terrorism-promotion tour financed by U.S. taxpayers. We provided the security.
Page 14 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
When the Rolling Stones tour America, they have to pay their own costs, but when Hatami tours America, we provide the security. The State Department does. Now, contrast that to the level of security provided the last time there were American diplomats in Tehran, and you get a sharp irony.
The biggest failure we have had in the global war on terrorism is our failure to get the U.N. Security Council on our side on issues ranging from Hezbollah to, most importantly, the Iranian nuclear program. Why have we failed? Because we refuse to engage in linkage. That is to say, when we send our diplomats to Moscow and ask for their help, we talk only about the Hezbollah issue, the Iran issue, and we never link it to anything Russia cares about, like Abkhaza, Moldova, Chechnya. The result is that the Russians have no reason to agree with us since we indicate no indication that will ameliorate our policies toward things the care about.
So due to inertia, and without even consulting the American people, the State Department has made the decision that the guy on the Moldovia desk gets to do whatever he has been doing for the last 10 or 20 years, and the guy on the Abkhaza desk or the Georgia desk gets to do whatever he is doing. We are not going to inconvenience them or ruffle their feathers by asking them to change their policies in order to get Russia on our side in the global war on terrorism.
Likewise, with China. With China, we are confronted with the issue of how do we respond to their legally questionable currency manipulation? There have been tens of thousands of pages written on that issue. This city, our capital city, Washington, is controlled by the huge, profit-making importers, who have prohibited anybody from raising the question: Should our response to Chinese currency actions be an opportunity to get China on our side in the global war on terrorism?
Page 15 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
And so, as a result, China makes its policies toward Iran based on its energy concerns, based on its joy at our discomfort, based on the certain knowledge that Iran and Hezbollah are problems for America more than they are problems for China, and in the absolute knowledge that their access to the United States economy is not an issue.
We have to think about how to reshape our policy toward every country in the world and how to make the concessions that we can afford to make in order to get support on the global war on terrorism, and as long as our policies in other areas of the world fail to get Russia, China, and others on our side, then we will be holding hearings here talking about why we failed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and Hezbollah from having thousands of missiles. I yield back.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. I want to recognize Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, whose Subcommittee has been working hard to analyze the threat of Iran to the United States, and then we will go to Ranking Member Ackerman, and, without objection, the other opening statements will be put in the record, and we will go to the witnesses. Chairwoman.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Royce. I would like to thank the witnesses for testifying today on this very important hearing, and I would also like to thank my colleague, my friend, Ed Royce, the Chair of the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation for holding this session as a joint effort with our Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia.
Today's hearing builds upon a recent briefing that the Middle East Subcommittee held with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, where the Hezbollah connection to these states was raised.
Page 16 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hezbollah has been a malicious presence and a threat to societies throughout the world since its establishment in the 1980s. The group's deadly activities have their origins in the Middle East. On April 18, 1983, an explosive-laden van was driven by a homicide bomber, rammed into our Embassy in Beirut, killing 63, including 17 Americans, and wounding over 100.
Six months later, on October 23, 1983, a truck bearing the equivalent of six tons of TNT smashed into the barracks that housed the United States Marines in Beirut. As a result, 241 American servicemen died that day, as did 58 French paratroopers targeted in a near simultaneous attack nearby. At least six Lebanese civilians were killed as well. It was the single deadliest day for U.S. Marines since the Battle of Iwo Jima and remains the deadliest post-World War II attack on Americans overseas. U.S. agencies have determined that Hezbollah was behind both attacks.
More recently, Hezbollah has adopted the cruel and cowardly tactic of targeting Israeli civilians in their homes, firing thousands of rockets indiscriminately toward villages, towns, and cities in northern Israel, as well as using Lebanese civilians as human shields.
But Hezbollah has not been limited to the Middle East for its murderous activities. On March 17, 1992, a pickup truck driven by a homicide bomber slammed into the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. The blast took the lives of 29 and wounded over 200, most of them citizens of Argentina. A nearby Catholic church and a school building were destroyed as well.
Page 17 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Two years later, on July 18, 1994, a van containing powerful explosives was driven into the Amia Jewish Community Center of Buenos Aires, killing 85 and wounding over 300.
These two were carried out by Hezbollah.
News reports also referred to Hezbollah's supporters conducting black market activities in parts of Central and South America. To address increasing reports of Islamic terrorist activities in the Western Hemisphere, I introduced a resolution recognizing the threat that these entities, their supporters, and their financiers pose to the United States and our allies in our hemisphere while acknowledging the efforts undertaken thus far by some governments in the region to deny the use of their territory to Islamic terrorist organizations.
The resolution also urges the President to direct our representative of the Organization of American States, the OAS, to seek support for the creation of a task force to assist governments in the region in fighting the proliferation of Islamic terrorists. It urges OAS members to designate Hezbollah has a terrorist entity, and the resolution was overwhelmingly adopted by the House in June of this year, and we hope that this and many other efforts undertaken will refocus our efforts and our strategies to help prevent an escalation of the threat.
I look forward to hearing Mr. Kavanagh's assessment of Hezbollah's activities in the tri-border area of South America, as well as the steps being take to confront these operations. Hezbollah operatives continue to spread their venom in Europe, where the group's terrorist infrastructure and fundraising apparatus are alive and well.
Page 18 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
It is of grave concern that the EU continues to oppose placing Hezbollah on its terrorist list after seeing all that the terrorist group has done. In fact, the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has stated that there is no sufficient data to determine whether Hezbollah can be included in the list of terrorist organizations.
In the aftermath of the recent conflicts in the Middle East, where Hezbollah initiated the attacks against Israel and violated not just Israeli territory but Lebanese sovereignty, causing much death and destruction, the EU should immediately reconsider its policy toward Hezbollah.
When it comes to Hezbollah, one cannot be on the sidelines and expect the threat to disappear on its own.
Hezbollah activities have even reached the United States. In 2002, two Lebanese men were convicted of financing Hezbollah with $2 million in illegal cigarette sales in the United States. We must never forget who is behind Hezbollah and on whose behalf its twisted actions are taken.
The recent conflict in Lebanon, triggered by an unprovoked attack against Israel by Hezbollah, proved exactly how intensely involved Iran is in supporting Hezbollah with weapons and ideology. During the conflict, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard actively participated in Hezbollah's terrorist activities in southern Lebanon, and all evidence indicates that vast amounts of Hezbollah's weapons, including long-range missiles, were provided by Iran.
I would be interested to hear from the witnesses about their assessment of the strength, the capabilities, and the image of Hezbollah in the aftermath of the recent conflict.
Page 19 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hezbollah draws its bitter hatred, its poisonous ideology, its resources, and its arms from Iran. The Iranian regime has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Hezbollah with the express purpose of harming Americans, Israelis, and other Western civilians and further destabilizing an already troubled Middle East.
On February 12, 2003, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, stated this about Hezbollah: ''An organization with capability and worldwide presence, it is al-Qaeda's equal, if not a far more capable organization.'' He added: ''They are a notch above in many respects, in terms of their relationship with the Iranians and the training they receive, which puts them in a state-sponsored category with a potential for lethality that is quite great.''
One can only imagine the untold horrors that Hezbollah may someday perpetrate, should its patron state achieve its coveted goal of nuclear weaponry.
We just intensify our efforts to effectively eradicate the Hezbollah threat and the hateful ideology that drives it.
I, once again, thank Chairman Royce for holding this hearing, and I thank the witnesses for appearing before us. Thank you.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Chairwoman.
We will go now to Mr. Ackerman.
Page 20 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ACKERMAN. I want to thank the Chairs for organizing this hearing. Hezbollah's emergence, not only as a Shia militia and a political party, not only as an international terrorist organization, but as a strategic proxy for the Iranian theocracy, Hezbollah is surely worthy of the attention of this Congress, and I am very pleased that we are having a hearing exclusively on Hezbollah before this Congress adjourns.
The Hezbollah threat, however, is not new. Hezbollah has been designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department since 1995 and has been on the list of specially designated, global terrorist organizations since 2001.
More Americans have died at the hands of Hezbollah than any other terrorist group outside of al-Qaeda. The August war, which resulted in hundreds of innocent lives lost and billions of dollars of destruction, was just the latest atrocity for which Hezbollah bears responsibility.
Reciting Hezbollah's barbaric and bloody history, denouncing its philosophy of hatred and violence, and detailing its subservience to Iran and subversion of Lebanon's sovereignty, though appreciable for the satisfaction of condemning truly vile behavior, is not what we are here to do today.
Our problem is not insufficiency of rhetoric or even, atypically, of understanding. Neither Hezbollah's capabilities nor its wickedness are in dispute or doubt.
Our problem is, again and again and again, one of strategy, of developing a plan for applying available means to achieve desired ends.
Page 21 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
So we may ask, what resources should the United States have at its disposal to address the challenge posed by Hezbollah? Ideally, the United States should have strong alliance relationships built on a shared vision for achieving international security. We should have a singular international prestige built upon our position as not only the richest and strongest nation but also the leading advocate for international institutions and norms of behavior. We should have the public support of the most important Arab states, built upon a shared appreciation of the Hezbollah threat to regional peace and stability.
Five years after 9/11, we should have broad, international consensus on how to define and deal with terrorism in general. We should be militarily unencumbered or, at least, be able to generate robust and capable forces for any prospective conflict, and, of course, we should have confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our intelligence.
As anyone who has read a newspaper in the past year knows, we have none of these, not one of them. Our reputation is in tatters. Right now, Arab leaders would rather have a photo-op with a child molester than with the President of the United States. Instead of building a common front against madmen who demand the entire Middle East be stuffed back into a straitjacket of religious dogmatism, we have, by virtue of our own faith-based, foreign policy, set the entire region against us.
In the American version, we declare our most fervent hopes and prayers to be facts, and then we wait for them to come true. Thus, we have the self-executing roadmap and the endorsement of Palestinian elections which included Hamas. Thus, we have our failure to plan for Iraqi reconstruction or to consider the implications of dissolving the Iraqi Army or firing all of the members of the Ba'ath Party or of trying to occupy a country the size of California with too few troops.
Page 22 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Thus, we have the necessity of subcontracting to the EU–3 the question of Iran's nuclear weapons program and to China, North Korea's nuclear program.
Thus, too, with Hezbollah, we find our high hopes for the Security Council Resolution 1701 already foundering, with UNIFIL commanders proudly declaring their intention to do nothing that would frustrate Iran or annoy Syria or discomfort Hezbollah.
Should they encounter weapons in proscribed areas or arms being smuggled, what will they do? Well, they will consult with the Government of Lebanon, and who sits in the Government of Lebanon? Hezbollah. As prayer is our plan, we had better start praying a little harder.
No President gets to operate in a perfect world, and as our secretary of defensiveness has declared, ''You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want.'' But clearly, by virtue of the choices that we have made and the priorities that we have chosen, we are much worse off now than we were 5 years ago. We have less acceptability, less flexibility, less capacity, less capability, and, most of all, less credibility.
In light of these unfortunate conditions, none of which was inevitable, I am looking forward to hearing from our distinguished witnesses as to what options remain available to us for dealing with the threat of Hezbollah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. We will go first to Mr. Frank Urbancic, the principal deputy coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, at the State Department. He has served as Chargé and Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Kuwait. He has specialized in East European, Middle Eastern, and African affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and Mr. Urbancic has extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy and antiterrorism.
Page 23 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Then we will go to Mr. John Kavanagh. He has been a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 1989, and is currently serving as section chief of the International Terrorism Operations Section II, Counterterrorism Division. Special Agent Kavanagh was previously with the FBI as assistant special agent in charge of the FBI Cleveland Division and on-scene commander in Baghdad, Iraq. Mr. Kavanagh has served as an assistant district attorney in New York and was a captain in the United States Marine Corps.
We appreciate both of you gentlemen testifying today. Mr. Urbancic, if you will summarize your comments to 5 minutes, that would be great. We have your written testimony. We are going to put that in the record.
Mr. URBANCIC. I will keep it as short as I possibly can.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF MR. FRANK C. URBANCIC, JR., PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COORDINATOR, OFFICE OF THE COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mr. URBANCIC. Chairman Royce, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, and Congressman Sherman, Congressman Ackerman, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittees, I thank you very much for the opportunity to come to speak with you today, and, as you requested, I will speak as quickly as I can and try to have as much time for you to have interaction as possible.
Page 24 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
We do know that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. It was formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It is closely allied with Iran and often acts at Iran's behest. It also can and does act independently. Hezbollah has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region. It promotes Shia interests within the Lebanese political system, and it is an exemplar for Shia communities throughout the region.
Hezbollah focuses a majority of its efforts on ending the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. It also supports a variety of violent, anti-Western groups, and, as Chairman Royce noted, prior to 9/11, Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group in the world.
It has a wide, increasing global reach, with an ability to harm U.S. and other Western interests across the continents. As recently seen, its rhetoric targets the United States for our alleged complicity with Israel. Hezbollah's recent actions also demonstrate the destabilizing effect it has on the region.
Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria's relationship can probably best be described and characterized as symbiotic. Iran and Syria cooperate with each other and with Hezbollah to supply funds, arms, and training for, and to facilitate travel by, Hezbollah members. Hezbollah continues actively to advance interests within the Lebanese political system that coincide with Syrian and Iranian interests. Its actions consistently benefit both Tehran and Damascus.
We believe that Iran's support for Hezbollah continued throughout the recent Hezbollah-Israeli conflict, and we believe that Hezbollah's decision to exacerbate the conflict simply could not have happened without at least tacit support from Tehran.
Page 25 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
We have made progress in impeding Iran's financial support for Hezbollah and in undermining its financial network. Treasury and State Department teams have traveled to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to meet with banking officials there to enlist their support in efforts to combat terrorism and to cut off Iran's support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
On September 8, we and the Treasury Department announced that we will prevent Bank Saderat from gaining access to the U.S. financial system. We have also taken active steps to cut off Hezbollah's financial support from Iran and others, including by designating the Islamic Resistance Support Organization, under U.S. Executive Order 13224, which freezes that organization's assets under U.S. jurisdiction.
Hezbollah in Lebanon maintains the only significant armed militia in the country, despite the requirements under UNSCR 1559 that it be disarmed. We believe that UNSCR 1701 will strengthen 1559 and assist the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL troops in interdicting weapons shipments coming into Lebanon intended for Hezbollah. The Government of Lebanon will need to address the ability of Hezbollah to re-arm, and this is a problem for sure.
For the moment, Hezbollah appears to have lowered its military profile in the south. However, we are unable to assess whether this is primarily motivated by domestic political concerns, the UNIFIL presence, or losses suffered during the recent conflict. We remain wary that even with the increasing presence of the Lebanese Army and international troops in the south, Hezbollah will retain a potentially strong military capability in southern Lebanon and its ability to receive assistance from Syria and Iran.
Page 26 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Looking globally, Hezbollah's support network extends into the Middle East, where it performs various fundraising activities. It has supported terrorist activities in the Palestinian territories since at least 2000 by providing financial, training, and logistical support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist groups.
Although there is little credible evidence of operational Hezbollah cells in Latin America currently, Hezbollah does have supporters and sympathizers throughout the Arab and Muslim communities in that region, and these are involved primarily in fundraising.
Hezbollah's supporters and sympathizers are also involved in a number of illegal activities, as has been mentioned by several Members of the Subcommittees. Hezbollah receives a significant amount of financing from the Shiite diaspora of West Africa and Central Africa. I myself have served in Freetown, and I know of those connections, and the diamond trade is a very difficult one to get a handle on.
The diaspora is active in West Africa's commercial sector beyond the diamond trade as well. Contributions there are often in the form of religious donations and paid in cash—they are difficult to track—and collected by Hezbollah couriers transiting the region.
We are working actively—I can assure you of that—to address this threat, but countering these terrorist financing networks will be a challenge, and will require significant resources and time. One way to do so is via terrorist designations, and we have been active in that, as several of you have already mentioned.
Page 27 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
I will cut my remarks on those just a little short, simply in the interest of time, but I will confirm that Hezbollah presents a very serious challenge to us all. Where we can act effectively to stem its activity is with or through the close cooperation of our allies. We concur completely with several of the comments that the Members have made.
In doing so, U.S. Ambassadors lead interagency country teams around the world that recommend strategies using all instruments of U.S. statecraft to help host nations understand the threat and to strengthen their political will and capacity to counter it.
I can confirm to you also that this is an entirely new strategy that we have developed. It did not exist in the last 12 months, and it is another way that we are looking to increase our effectiveness in countering the terrorist threat globally.
Another tool is this Regional Strategic Initiative, which is designed to establish flexible regional networks of interconnected country teams on a regional basis. We work with Ambassadors and interagency representatives in key terrorist theaters of operation to assess the threat and to devise collaborative strategies, actional initiatives, and policy recommendations. This strategy is aimed over the long term. Over time, our global and regional operations will reduce the enemy's capacity to harm us and our partners while local security and development assistance will build our partners' capacity.
This completes the formal part of my remarks, but I welcome very much the opportunity to discuss with you and take your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Urbancic follows:]
Page 28 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. FRANK C. URBANCIC, JR., PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COORDINATOR, OFFICE OF THE COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Chairman Royce, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Congressman Sherman, Congressman Ackerman, distinguished Members of the Subcommittees, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on Hizballah, its ambitions, capabilities and global reach. I will summarize my formal written statement and ask that you include my full testimony in the record.
Hizballah's Origins, Aims and Ambitions
Formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanese-based radical Shia group takes its ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The group follows the religious guidance of Khomeini's successor, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hizballah is closely allied with Iran and often acts at its behest, but it also can and does act independently. Though Hizballah does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation, the group has been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in the region. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, is the group's highest governing body and has been led by Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah since 1992.
Hizballah promotes Shia interests within the Lebanese political system and is an exemplar for Shia communities throughout the region. Hizballah supports a variety of violent anti-Western groups, including Palestinian terrorist organizations. This support includes the covert provision of weapons, explosives, training, funding, and guidance, as well as overt political support. Prior to September 11, Hizballah was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist group.
Page 29 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hizballah formed its ranks in part by subsuming members of separate Lebanese organizations, many of which had cooperated under the umbrella of the Islamic Jihad group during this time period. It also began to receive financial and material support from the Iranian government very early on. The organization has portrayed itself as an instrument of legitimate national resistance, focusing a majority of its efforts on ending the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. Following Israel's 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hizballah has continued to assert that regions of Lebanon remain occupied and has used this pretext as cover to strengthen its capabilities.
Hizballah has a wide, increasing global reach, with an ability to harm U.S. and other western interests across continents. As we saw during the most recent conflict, Hizballah's rhetoric targets the United States for its alleged complicity with Israel. In addition, Hizballah's recent actions demonstrate the destabilizing effect it has on the region. These events have reinforced the need to deny non-state actors such as Hizballah the ability to exploit weak states and undergoverned areas.
We believe that Hizballah maintains the ability to threaten the survival of the current government of Lebanon from within, as well as continuing to threaten the security of Israel and the region. Hizballah receives logistical, material, and financial support from its Iranian and Syrian backers. It maintains an extended network of social and support services to the Lebanese people, particularly in the Shia-dominated south of the country. We cannot recognize Hizballah as a legitimate party until it ends its terrorist activity and gets out of the terrorist business.
Page 30 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Relationship Between Hizballah, Iran and Syria
Hizballah, Iran, and Syria continue to enjoy a relationship which can best be characterized as symbiotic. Iran and Syria cooperate with each other and with Hizballah to supply funds, arms and training for, and to facilitate travel by Hizballah members. Hizballah continues to actively advance interests within the Lebanese political system that coincide with Syrian and Iranian interests, and otherwise behaves in a manner that benefits both Tehran and Damascus.
The USG has long assessed that Iran provides technological, operational, and financial support and guidance to Lebanese Hizballah. The Iranian regime has for 27 years used its connections and influence with terrorist groups to combat U.S. interests it perceives as at odds with its own, and Hizballah has acted as a willing partner in that conflict.
We believe that Iran's support for Hizballah continued throughout Hizballah's recent conflict with Israel. Hizballah and Iran are strategic collaborators. We believe that Hizballah's decision to exacerbate the conflict with indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel targeting Israeli civilians could not have happened without at least the tacit support of Tehran. We also believe that Iran and Syria's non-humanitarian support for Hizballah—including financial, logistic, and military support—has not stopped since the cease-fire or the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701. Just last week Nasrallah bragged publicly about Hizballah's remaining weapons cache. We continue to call upon Iran and Syria to comply with the legally binding requirement of UNSCR 1701 to prevent the transfer of illicit weapons to Hizballah.
Page 31 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
The United States and the international community condemned the recent conflict and we worked hard with our partners in the international community to end it, and to adopt and implement all of the provisions of UNSCR 1701. When it is fully implemented, resolution 1701 will radically change the reality in Lebanon for the better, strengthening Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and freedom—thus ending Hizballah's ability to threaten its stability. The international community continues to call upon both Syria and Iran to meet their obligations fully to help implement resolution 1701 and past Security Council resolutions on Hizballah, including the full and verifiable disarmament of Hizballah.
Iran is the ''central banker'' of terrorism and a primary funding source for Hizballah. Because money is a terrorist group's oxygen, attacking terrorist financing is an essential element to combating terrorism. In that regard, we have made progress in impeding Iran's financial support for Hizballah and in undermining Hizballah's own financial network. The Department of Treasury is spearheading an interagency effort to undermine Iran's financial support for terrorism. In recent weeks, Treasury and State Department teams have traveled to Europe, the Middle East and Asia to meet with banking officials to enlist their support in our efforts to combat terrorism and cut off Iran's support for terrorist groups like Hizballah. The U.S. Government announced on September 8 that it will prevent one of Iran's largest state-owned banks—Bank Saderat—from gaining access to the U.S. financial system. We believe Bank Saderat has been used by Iran to transfer money to Hizballah, Hamas, Palestine Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations. We have also taken active steps to cut off Hizballah's financial support from Iran and others, including by designating the Islamic Resistance Support Organization, a key front charity funding Hizballah, under U.S. Executive Order 13224, thus freezing that organization's assets under U.S. jurisdiction. Finally, we continue to urge our partners in the Global War on Terror to take similar steps to cut off Iran's funding of Hizballah's terrorist activities, and to press the Iranian regime to end its support for terrorism.
Page 32 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Finally, we assess Lebanese Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have implemented training programs for Iraqi militants in the construction and use of sophisticated IED technology. These individuals then pass on this training to additional militants in Iraq.
Hizballah's Current Activities in Lebanon
Hizballah maintains the only significant armed militia in Lebanon, despite requirements under UNSCR 1559 that it be disarmed. We believe that UNSCR 1701 will strengthen the previous resolution, and assist the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL troops in interdicting weapons shipments coming into Lebanon intended for Hizballah. The Government of Lebanon will need to address the ability of Hizballah to re-arm, particularly as this relates to the Lebanon-Syria border.
Hizballah, an established, stable movement with deep roots and broad support, especially in the southern Lebanon Shia community, has shown an ability to cross confessional lines in order to garner further support. With its social services network largely intact, Hizballah has also been very quick to provide high-profile reconstruction and humanitarian assistance over the past month, well in advance of international donor efforts.
For the moment, Hizballah appears to have lowered its military profile in the south; however, we are unable to assess whether this is primarily motivated by domestic political concerns, UNFIL presence, or losses suffered during the recent conflict. Hizballah leaders have made public statements indicating that they will not be disarmed and that the disarmament issue should not fall within the purview of the UNFIL troops. With that said, we remain wary that even with the increasing presence of the Lebanese army and international troops in the south, Hizballah will retain a potentially strong military capability in southern Lebanon and its ability to receive logistic and material assistance from Syria and Iran. Indeed, Hizballah was able to receive this support despite the fighting with Israel, taking full advantage of existing land access routes and tunnels along the porous Lebanon-Syria border, especially in the Bekaa Valley, to receive weapons and other material.
Page 33 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hizballah's Activities Worldwide
The Middle East. While Hizballah's most robust presence remains in the Levant, its support network extends well beyond, including into the Gulf, where Hizballah performs various fundraising activities. Hizballah has supported terrorist activities in the Palestinian territories since at least 2000, by providing financial, training and logistical support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist groups. While the vast majority of Palestinians support peace negotiations and want a two-state solution, Hizballah actively foments terrorist activity that directly undermines this goal.
Latin America. Although there is little credible evidence of the present activity of operational Hizballah cells in Latin America, Hizballah has numerous supporters and sympathizers throughout Arab and Muslim communities in the region who are involved primarily in raising funds for the terrorist group, by licit and illicit means. Hizballah supporters and sympathizers are also involved in a number of illegal activities, including smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, fraud, intellectual property piracy, and other transnational crime.
We are working with all our partners in the Americas to heighten awareness of this threat and to take the necessary measures to contain and eventually dismantle Hizballah activities in this hemisphere. Our focus has been on thwarting terror financing, improving border controls, strengthening our friends' intelligence capabilities, and urging adoption of stricter counterterrorism legislation.
Page 34 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
On the critical component of intelligence, U.S. bilateral cooperation with our hemispheric partners is, with a few notable exceptions, excellent. Perhaps more importantly, intelligence and information sharing among our neighbors is at an unprecedented high. We are particularly encouraged by the growing collaboration among Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay to address smuggling, drug and arm trafficking, money laundering, fraud, intellectual property piracy, and other transnational crime in the Tri-Border Area. Through formal dialogue with the U.S., Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay have begun to institutionalize what were once ad-hoc cooperative or loosely-coordinated activities among local officials. This enhanced cooperation has led to a number of these suspects being prosecuted by our three partners for a variety of crimes.
Yet challenges remain. Most of our neighbors in the hemisphere have high competing priorities for scarce public resources, making it politically difficult to invest even modestly in CT capabilities when basic social services, such as education and healthcare, remain under-funded. Official corruption is another serious problem that can undermine the most advanced training and the most sophisticated detection systems.
We have more work to do in encouraging foreign legislation. No Latin American country has in place, or is seriously considering adopting, terrorist designation regimes that would make membership in and support for a designated terrorist organization a crime. In the case of Hizballah, this is an especially high hill to climb, particularly because some of our neighbors consider Hizballah a legitimate political party.
West and Central Africa. Hizballah also receives a significant amount of financing from the Shiite Muslim diaspora of West and Central Africa, whose presence was established in the late 19th century. The Lebanese disapora is active in West Africa's commercial sector with extensive business networks throughout the region and extending beyond. In many cases these businesses have significant control over basic imported commodities, such as rice and chicken. Lebanese traders are also very active in diamond exports, both as a business and in criminal exploitation.
Page 35 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
It is important to note that the Lebanese community in West Africa is not monolithically Muslim nor completely supportive of Hizballah, but mirrors the same religious and political divisions present in Lebanon. It is clear, however, that Hizballah receives significant support from this community. Contributions, which often take the form of religious donations, are often paid in cash, and are collected by Hizballah couriers transiting the region. These groups provide safe haven and R&R sites for Hizballah fighters. Countering this network of terrorist financing will be a challenge and will take significant resources and time.
Al-Manar
Hizballah has been designated by the U.S. Government under three different counterterrorism authorities—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, a Specially Designated Terrorist, and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The Lebanese Media Group (LMG) and its subsidiaries, Al-Manar television and Al-Nour radio, form a recognized arm of Hizballah. Hizballah established Al-Manar in 1991. Al-Manar and Al-Nour have provided Hizballah with fundraising and other material support. Al-Manar has raised funds for Hizballah by running advertisements on its television broadcasts and website. In addition, Al-Manar regularly airs Hizballah promotional videos featuring suicide bombers and rallies of Hizballah fighters.
To confront the threat posed by the LMG, Al-Manar, and Al-Nour, the USG has multiple authorities for designating terrorist organizations, each with significant—and different—consequences. In December 2004, the U.S. Department of State added Al-Manar to the Terrorism Exclusion List (TEL). Putting an organization on the TEL has immigration and deportation consequences for non-U.S. citizens who have certain associations with the group, but it does not result in economic sanctions. Their addition to the TEL did, however, lead to the removal of Al-Manar's programs from its main satellite television provider in the U.S. and made it more difficult for Al-Manar associates and affiliates to operate here. At the same time, Al-Manar also lost access to its main satellite television service providers in Europe.
Page 36 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
On March 23, 2006, the Department of Treasury designated the LMG, Al-Manar, and Al-Nour under Executive Order 13224, making all three organizations Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities. This resulted in economic sanctions, namely the assets and other property of these entities, subject to U.S. jurisdiction, which have now been frozen. Moreover, it is now a criminal act for any U.S. person to willfully engage in any financial transactions with these organizations or to provide them any material benefit. This has made it far more difficult to gain access to Al-Manar programs in the U.S. A satellite television service provider in New York was recently arrested for making Al-Manar available to customers. We continue to monitor the situation and keep a careful eye on the activities of the LMG, Al-Manar, and Al-Nour.
Conclusion
In summary, I would emphasize that Hizballah presents a very serious challenge to us. Hizballah is a highly organized, disciplined, and trained organization, which enjoys robust funding through multiple sources and means, and is capable of acting against U.S. interests on several fronts and on several continents. Where we can act effectively to stem its activity is through the close cooperation of our allies across the globe who also recognize this threat.
We aim to enhance our partners' capacity to counter the terrorist threat and address conditions that terrorists exploit. We work with or through partners at every level (both bilaterally and multilaterally), whenever possible. To implement this strategy, U.S. Ambassadors, as the President's personal representatives abroad, lead interagency Country Teams that recommend strategies using all instruments of U.S. statecraft to help host nations understand the threat, and strengthen their political will and capacity to counter it.
Page 37 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism has worked to develop the Regional Strategic Initiative, which is designed to establish flexible regional networks of interconnected Country Teams. We are working with Ambassadors and interagency representatives in key terrorist theaters of operation to assess the threat and devise collaborative strategies, actionable initiatives and policy recommendations.
Our strategy is aimed over the long-term. Over time, our global and regional operations will reduce the enemy's capacity to harm us and our partners, while local security and development assistance will build our partners' capacity. Once partner capacity exceeds threat, the need for close U.S. engagement and support will diminish, terrorist movements will fracture and implode, and the threat will be reduced to proportions that our partners can manage for themselves over the long term.
Hizballah's penchant for exploiting poorly-governed areas is all the more reason to continue focusing our efforts and our resources on enhancing regional cooperation and building partner will and capacity. Absent this type and level of continued attention to Hizballah and the threat it poses, our knowledge of the group and the means of confronting it are hindered immeasurably.
This completes the formal part of my remarks, and I welcome your questions and comments.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Urbancic.
Page 38 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Now, we are going to go to Mr. Kavanagh.
STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN G. KAVANAGH, SECTION CHIEF, INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM OPERATIONS SECTION II, COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Mr. KAVANAGH. Chairman Royce, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Members Sherman and Ackerman, Members of both Subcommittees, I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you on the topic of Hezbollah and the concerns you have about Hezbollah's capabilities. I will address some of the types of activities Hezbollah has been involved in while keeping in mind the sensitivities associated with discussing certain operational matters in an unclassified setting.
Hezbollah is one of the most capable terrorist organizations in the world. This Lebanon-based, radical Shia organization advocates the destruction of Israel and the establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon and in the Middle East. Hezbollah was created in 1982 in response to the Israelis invasion and occupation of Lebanon. As seen in the recent conflict with Israel, Hezbollah has a well-trained, guerilla force that is proficient in military tactics and weaponry. Since its inception, Hezbollah has employed suicide bombers and has committed airline hijackings, kidnappings, and murders in furtherance of its operations. Prior to September 11, 2001, as stated by this panel, Hezbollah was responsible for 288 American deaths, more than any other terrorist organization at that time.
Hezbollah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-United States attacks overseas, including the suicide truck bombing of the United States Embassy in Beirut in April 1983; the bombing of the United States Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in October 1983 that killed 241 United States servicemen, and the attack on the United States Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Hezbollah is also responsible for the kidnappings and murders of U.S. Government officials William Buckley and Lieutenant Colonel William Higgins. In June 1996, a Saudi Hezbollah member also drove the vehicle that destroyed one of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 United States servicemen. According to the indictment, a member of the Lebanese Hezbollah assisted Saudi Hezbollah with the construction of the tanker truck bomb that was used in this attack.
Page 39 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hezbollah also has shown the ability to strike outside the Middle East by attacking the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the bombing of the Israeli Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in 1994. Hezbollah has been designated by the secretary of state as a foreign terrorist organization, in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Currently, four high-profile Hezbollah members are wanted in the United States in connection to the June 14, 1985, hijacking of TWA Flight 847 as it departed Athens International Airport en route to Rome. The hijackers shuttled the airplane between Beirut and Algiers, where they brutally beat several United States passengers and executed U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. The four members who have been indicted for their roles in this dastardly attack are Imad Mughniya, the current head of Hezbollah's security apparatus; Hassan Izz-Al-Din, Muhammad Ali Hammadi, and Ali Atwa. There are also 14 outstanding arrest warrants for those responsible for the Khobar Towers attack.
The FBI, in conjunction with the U.S. intelligence community and through the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force, continues to investigate Hezbollah activities directed at the United States. Although Hezbollah retains the capability to attempt to strike at United States interests, Hezbollah has not directly targeted the United States since the attack on Khobar Towers in 1996. Within the United States, Hezbollah associates and sympathizers have engaged in a wide range of criminal activities, to include money laundering, credit card fraud, immigration fraud, food stamp fraud, bank fraud, and narcotics trafficking. Recently, the FBI and its law enforcement partners concluded an investigation in Detroit in which 107 Federal indictments were obtained, leading to the arrests of 58 Hezbollah subjects and the seizure of approximately $5 million in property. These individuals were involved in a variety of Federal violations, including providing material support to a terrorist organization and racketeering.
Page 40 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
It is common in the United States for associates of terrorist organizations to use alleged Middle East charitable organizations to funnel money back home to support the various terrorist operations. The FBI, with its partners in the Department of the Treasury, Department of State, and the rest of the Department of Justice, works closely to have these organizations that are providing material support to terrorists shut down and have those knowingly engaged in such conduct criminally charged. In March 2006, the Department of the Treasury designated Al-Manar television a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity. Al-Manar is the Hezbollah television propaganda medium that raises funds for Hezbollah via advertisements. Al-Manar's programming includes features glorifying Hezbollah fighters and suicide bombers. The FBI and its partners in the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force recently arrested the Al-Manar satellite television service provider for knowingly providing support to Hezbollah.
The FBI, with our partners in the United States intelligence and law enforcement communities, will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute the threat posed by Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in order to protect our citizens and preserve our national security. Director Mueller recently remarked, ''It has been nearly 5 years since the last terrorist attack on America. Yet there is no room for complacency. As we have seen in recent months, our enemies are adaptive and evasive. They are taking full advantage of technology. They are combining their resources and their expertise to great effect. We must do the same.''
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kavanagh follows:]
Page 41 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN G. KAVANAGH, SECTION CHIEF, INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM OPERATIONS SECTION II, COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Chairman Royce, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Members Sherman and Ackerman, members of both Subcommittees, I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on the topic of Hizballah, and the concerns you have about Hizballah's capabilities. I will address some of the types of activities Hizballah has been and is involved in within the United States, while keeping in mind the sensitivities associated with discussing certain operational matters in an unclassified setting.
Hizballah (Party of God) is one of the most capable terrorist organizations in the world. This Lebanon-based radical Shi'a organization advocates the destruction of Israel and the establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon and the Middle East. Hizballah was created in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion and occupation of Lebanon. As seen in the recent conflict with Israel, Hizballah has a well trained guerilla force that is proficient in military tactics and weaponry. Since its inception, Hizballah has employed suicide bombers and has committed airline hijackings, kidnappings and murders in furtherance of its goals and objectives. Prior to September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for 288 American deaths, more than any other terrorist organization at that time.
Hizballah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous anti-United States attacks overseas, including the suicide truck bombings of the United States Embassy in Beirut in April 1983; the bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in October 1983 that killed 241 U.S. servicemen; and the attack on the United States Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. Hizballah is also responsible for the kidnappings and murders of U.S. Government officials William Buckley and Lt. Colonel William Higgins. In June 1996, a Saudi Hizballah member also drove the vehicle that destroyed one of the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. servicemen; according to the indictment, a member of Lebanese Hizballah assisted Saudi Hizballah with the construction of the tanker truck bomb used in the attack. Hizballah has shown the ability to strike outside the Middle East region by attacking the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and bombing a Jewish Argentine cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. Hizballah has been designated by the Secretary of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Page 42 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Currently four high profile Hizballah members are wanted in the United States in connection to the June 14, 1985, hijacking of TWA flight 847 as it departed Athens International Airport en route to Rome. The hijackers shuttled the airplane between Beirut and Algiers, where they brutally beat several U.S. passengers and executed U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. The four members who have been indicted for their roles in this crime are Imad Mughniya, the head of Hizaballah's security apparatus, Hasan Izz-Al-Din, Muhammad Ali Hammadi and Ali Atwa. There are also 14 outstanding arrest warrants for those responsible for the Khobar Towers attack.
The FBI in conjunction with the U.S. Intelligence Community and through the FBI led Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) continues to investigate Hizballah activities directed at the United States. Although Hizballah retains the capability to attempt to strike at United States interests, we assess that Hizballah has not directly targeted the United States since the attack on Khobar Towers in 1996. Within the United States, Hizballah associates and sympathizers have engaged in a wide range of criminal activities to include money laundering, credit card fraud, immigration fraud, food stamp fraud, bank fraud and narcotics trafficking. Recently the FBI and its law enforcement partners concluded an investigation in Detroit, Michigan, where 107 Federal indictments were obtained, leading to the arrests of 58 Hizballah subjects and the seizure of approximately 5 million dollars in property. These individuals were involved in a variety of Federal violations, to include providing material support to a terrorist organization and Federal racketeering charges.
It is common in the United States for associates of terrorist organizations to use alleged Middle East charitable organizations to funnel money back home to support the various terrorist organizations. The FBI with its partners in the Department of Treasury, Department of State and the rest of the Department of Justice works closely to have these organizations that are providing material support to terrorists shut down and have those knowingly engaged in such conduct criminally charged. In March 2006, the Department of Treasury designated Al-Manar television a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity. Al-Manar is the Hizballah television propaganda medium that raises funds for Hizballah via advertisements, and Al-Manar's programming includes features glorifying Hizballah fighters and suicide bombers. The FBI and its partners in the New York JTTF recently arrested an Al-Manar satellite television service provider for knowingly engaging in prohibited transactions with Al-Manar.
Page 43 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
The FBI with our partners in the U.S. Intelligence and the law enforcement communities will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute the threat posed by Hizballah in order to protect our citizens and preserve our national security. Director Mueller recently remarked, ''It has been nearly five years since the last terrorist attack on America. Yet there is no room for complacency. As we have seen in recent months, our enemies are adaptive and evasive. They are taking full advantage of technology. They are combining their resources and their expertise to great effect. We must do the same.''
Thank You for the opportunity to address this important issue. I am happy to answer your questions.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Kavanagh.
The FBI recently arrested 58 Hezbollah subjects in Detroit, and looking at the profile of Mr. Mahmoud Kourani, I see he had extensive training in terrorism and weapons in both Iran and in the Bekaa Valley. Do you know if any of these 58 individuals that were arrested in Detroit had any military training?
Mr. KAVANAGH. What we are seeing, sir, is that we are not seeing the highly military-trained individuals in the United States. Those who we know are identified as having had Hezbollah training basically were acted very quickly on, and with our partners in Homeland Security, we usually have been very successful in having them charged and deported. In this case, the 58 were not military trained.
Page 44 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROYCE. We see the Border Patrol attempting to apprehend these individuals, but, clearly, with Mahmoud Kourani, he was able, through the use of a ''coyote,'' to avoid capture until you caught him in Dearborn.
What have your conversations with the Border Patrol been like about this strategy of trying to apprehend individuals coming into the United States, and how extensive do you think it is—maybe we could look back and compare what is happening this year with 5 years ago, especially 10 years ago—in terms of Hezbollah operatives coming into the United States? You are making a lot of apprehensions here now, and I wanted to ask you to follow up on that.
Mr. KAVANAGH. I would say, generally, we are not seeing Hezbollah operatives in the United States. What we are seeing is a lot of supporters and sympathizers who are funneling a lot of money back to Lebanon for the cause, for the suicide bombers and the terrorist operations that are occurring in the Middle East.
We work very closely with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, with ICE, with Homeland Security, and basically taking all of our expertise and intelligence that we have, and with the international intelligence community overseas, to identify them before they enter the country.
Mr. ROYCE. I noticed in your testimony that you were talking about the immigration fraud in which Hezbollah is increasingly involved. Could you elaborate on that immigration fraud as a modus operandi for Hezbollah?
Mr. KAVANAGH. I would probably feel more comfortable having somebody from the Department of Homeland Security answer that question, sir, for you, but I would say, sir, we are definitely seeing a pattern of a lot of people entering the country with visa fraud on their documentation. We are also seeing a lot of marriage fraud. I think it is stuff that is well known to these Subcommittees that we do have issues and problems with the process that is allowing a lot of these individuals into the country.
Page 45 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROYCE. We had a hearing in Laredo, Texas, and also one in San Diego. In Laredo, there was a real concern on the part of the sheriffs with OTMs and particularly about people from this part of the world who they were apprehending coming in through the Texas border. How legitimate of a concern that might be?
Mr. KAVANAGH. I think, sir, Texas is just one of the areas, but the whole border issue is how the entry points are being made. I do not think we are seeing as much of the smuggling operations at this point as the people who are legally gaining access to this country.
Mr. ROYCE. Although we did see that with one operative in Tijuana who brought in 200 individuals and was aligned with Hezbollah, so we have seen some activity on the California——
Mr. KAVANAGH. Correct, sir. We have seen some, but on the whole scale, though, sir, I think the bigger issue is some of the problems that are occurring with the immigration policies or the enforcement, as a nation, to deal with those. Also, we are seeing more so, as you know, sir, the student visa problems.
Mr. ROYCE. The last question I was going to ask of Mr. Urbancic. Jane's Defense Weekly reports that Iran plans to supply Hezbollah with Chinese-designed, shoulder-fired missiles. The reason Iran wants to do that is they say these can take out the Israeli Air Force. Of course, they could also take out any jetliner. There are also reports of longer-range Russian missiles, such as the sophisticated SA–16.
Page 46 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Part of the strategy with the resolution that the U.N. was taking, UNSCR 1701, was that Hezbollah was not supposed to be re-armed by Iran. Clearly, the evidence in your report right now is that re-armament continues. From these reports, there is wide expectation of a rather massive ramp up in terms of the type of weaponry. It is now going to be more than the cruise missiles that we have seen in the past.
It was the hope that there was going to be a price paid by Iran for Hezbollah's aggression. When I was in Israel during those rocket attacks, people were saying, ''Well, there will be a price paid by Iran.'' That does not seem to be the case, does it?
Mr. URBANCIC. Well, Congressman, I cannot speak specifically to Iranian deliveries of MANPADS to Hezbollah. I have seen the reports. But, clearly, the threat of MANPADS and other missiles in the hands of Hezbollah or in the hands of other terrorist groups is something that we take very seriously. Already, the Israelis faced that in East Africa, and we are very, very cognizant of it.
We are doing everything that we can with our allies, as I mentioned in my statement, because that is the way we have to do it. This is an international problem. We are working directly with our allies to not only register our concerns but to make sure that those resolutions are implemented in Beirut and in Lebanon.
We just completed our Joint Task Force Working Group on Counterterrorism with the Russians here in Washington a week and a half ago, and without going into great detail, I can tell you that some of the most intense discussions were about Iran.
Page 47 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROYCE. I appreciate that very much, and, again, from the testimony, Iran ''has not stopped since the cease-fire'' or the adoption of ''the U.N. resolution its financial, logistic, and military support,'' so we are going to have to redouble those efforts.
We are going to go to Mr. Ackerman for his questions.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Al-Manar, which is Hezbollah's television network, has been banned in our country, as well as France, and several satellite services have discontinued broadcasting Al-Manar.
What I would like to know, with it still being broadcasted, both in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who are also threatened by Hezbollah, why is Al-Manar still on the air? What steps have we taken to try to get them off the air there, and why are those governments reluctant to do it, and do they need some help and cover, and are we contemplating doing that?
Mr. URBANCIC. Congressman, Hezbollah is something that we take very seriously, and we are in intense discussions with the two governments that you mentioned, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, on the entire range of CT issues, not just Al-Manar. Al-Manar is a big one. We are working with those governments.
There are various complications and various political problems that we have with them, but, as I said before, working with our partners is the key to shutting Al-Manar down, and we are doing everything that we can on the diplomatic front as aggressively as we possibly can, at every encounter that we have, to get those broadcasting channels shut down.
Page 48 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ACKERMAN. Nothing specific that you could share with us in this venue?
Mr. URBANCIC. In the discussions, no, sir, not in this forum.
Mr. ACKERMAN. You would be able to do that in a different setting?
Mr. URBANCIC. I will take the question, if you would like, or, yes, if you want to do a different——
Mr. ACKERMAN. No, no, no. I am saying, if we had a different venue for this meeting——
Mr. URBANCIC. Sure.
Mr. ACKERMAN [continuing]. Would we be able to discuss that further?
Hezbollah has been called the ''A-Team of Terrorism'' by Former Secretary Armitage. What types of activities do we see from Hezbollah within the United States? Do they have plans to attack the United States or our interests overseas, and what have we done to limit that possibility?
Page 49 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. KAVANAGH. Sir, as I stated earlier, what we have done with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces and with the intelligence community is basically worked together overseas internationally to get the information and intelligence to the people over here in CONUS that need that information to effectively combat all terrorist groups.
Like we have said, if we knew someone who had, let us say, a military background and is possibly a Hezbollah operative, we would do everything——
Mr. ACKERMAN. The question is, do we know of Hezbollah operatives in the United States, and do we know if or that they have plans for an attack in the United States?
Mr. KAVANAGH. I would say, sir, at this time, I would say the United States is used more as the financial funding operation. We are a great financial funder for a lot of the terrorist organizations in the Middle East through the various charities. Hezbollah basically, to date, even though they are unpredictable, have basically kept their attacks isolated to the Middle East regarding the United States.
Mr. ACKERMAN. I am talking about what their plans are.
Mr. KAVANAGH. Sir, I could just say, based on what we know to date, we do not see any ongoing or attempted operations in the United States, but, again, as of right now.
Mr. ACKERMAN. So you are telling us that Hezbollah has no plans within the United States for an attack on the United States.
Page 50 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. KAVANAGH. What I am trying to tell you, sir, is——
Mr. ACKERMAN. We have no information on this.
Mr. KAVANAGH. As of right now, sir, I have no information I can share with you right now about any ongoing plans or attacks in the United States by Hezbollah.
Mr. ACKERMAN. You added that you can share with us to that statement, which, otherwise, I understood.
Mr. KAVANAGH. I would say, sir, right now, there is——
Mr. ACKERMAN. Do you know of any plans?
Mr. KAVANAGH. No, sir. I do not believe there are any plans right now that we are aware of at this point.
Mr. ACKERMAN. So we know of no plans for Hezbollah to attack the United States, and they are basically just using us as——
Mr. KAVANAGH. When you say the ''United States,'' as CONUS, United States, as of right now, like I said, sir, I would probably feel more comfortable if we discussed this question, at least, in a classified Subcommittee meeting.
Page 51 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ACKERMAN. Maybe, Mr. Chairman, we can arrange for that.
Mr. ROYCE. We will arrange for that, Mr. Ackerman, and we will go now to Mr. Tancredo from Colorado and then to Mr. Berman from California.
Mr. TANCREDO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to go back a little bit to the discussion we were having with regard to the border, especially the southern border of the United States and the various activities on the other side of that border that are quite perplexing and disconcerting.
In particular, there has been an increase in the number of paramilitary activities on the Mexican side of the border: camps, as I understand it, that have been developed near Matamoris, Mexico, and in other places run by the Zadas. These camps are primarily and essentially set up for the purpose of training people to move drugs into the United States and to avoid contact with American authorities, but they are paramilitaries, and the Zadas, of course, are people that we trained at one point in time, went back to Mexico, turned, and became part of the Mexican cartels. They are very capable people.
We have had an indication that there have been now thousands—up to 10,000, I think I read just recently—of desertions from the Mexican military, many of them also entering into the ranks of the folks who are moving drugs into the United States.
Now, we all know that the activities so far have been centered around the movement of drugs, as I say, but we also know, or, at least, at one time we were told by Administration officials, that there were concerns about the possibility that contact had been made between these organizations and Hezbollah.
Page 52 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
I wonder if you could tell me if you have any more information about that. To what extent do you know about any contact that has been made that you can tell us about in this setting, and, I guess, if you cannot tell us specifically what contact has been made, can you tell us what your concerns are about that possibility? How real is the possibility that Hezbollah has made any sort of arrangements with the various radical groups in Mexico that are part of the drug cartels and also have established enormously successful routes into the United States where both people and drugs could be moved?
Mr. URBANCIC. Congressman, in a general fashion, what I could say is that, first of all, Hezbollah portrays itself primarily as a nationalist movement within Lebanon.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Urbancic, if you or Mr. Kavanagh would pull those microphones close to you, that would be helpful. There you go.
Mr. URBANCIC. If I could say, first of all, that Hezbollah, so far, has portrayed itself as a nationalist movement within Lebanon. I think we could think of it perhaps as almost an octopus with the head in southern Lebanon and tentacles moving around the world. Mostly those tentacles that we are aware of outside of Lebanon, except for the Iran-Syria link, obviously, are for supply and support, and that is what we see.
What we are very, very concerned about is the potential linkup between Hezbollah and narcoterrorism, the FARC in South America, which is its own problem, and the potential to use that type of funding mechanism against us, first, domestically and, secondly, in the Middle East.
Page 53 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
It is a subject of great concern for us. I do not want to speak of specific contacts that we are aware of, but it is something that we are very much worried about in the tri-border area, as we have mentioned.
Mr. TANCREDO. The tri-border area was going to be my next question. Certainly, we do know that there is movement through that area, from the Middle East into South America through the tri-border area, where they are trained, where they are given documentation, where they are kept for some period of time, and then moved on into the United States.
Now, all of these people who are paying these enormous sums in order to get here are not doing so to work at the 7-Eleven. They are doing so for other purposes, and we have to assume that those purposes are nefarious.
Mr. URBANCIC. I think that is exactly right. All of the documentation that you talked about is for sale, and it is easily—well not easily—it certainly can be reproduced, and there are experts that do it overseas for all types of purposes: for smuggling, for nefarious purposes much worse than illicit drugs.
On the domestic side, I defer to DHS and to the FBI.
Hezbollah has assets around the world, and it can mobilize them on a moment's notice. I am quite sure of that.
Page 54 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROYCE. And Hezbollah subjects that are detained today have been involved in immigration fraud. That has come out in the testimony as well.
We are now going to go to Mr. Berman of California and then Mr. Rohrabacher of California.
Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this hearing.
This notion of Hezbollah's global reach being for purposes of supply and support—I think that is what you said.
Mr. URBANCIC. Yes. I think that is the characterization we would—which is not to say that it does not have additional potential, but I think, primarily, at the moment, that is the status that we have.
Mr. BERMAN. Well, let me ask you about one particular activity that has gotten publicity in the last 12 months, and that is Hezbollah being a provider of particularly Islamic Jihad, Al-Aksa, and Hamas, to some extent, in the West Bank and in Gaza, to the point of actually encouraging specific kinds of terrorist operations by those organizations and helping to equip and supply them.
Mr. URBANCIC. Yes, sir. I think I mentioned in my statements that, since at least 2000, those contacts have existed——
Page 55 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. BERMAN. 2000?
Mr. URBANCIC. The year 2000.
Mr. BERMAN. Oh.
Mr. URBANCIC [continuing]. Those contacts have existed, and we are very concerned about them. It is a clear indication of their willingness to use their wicked ideology and to spread it and to support other terrorist groups. These links are links that we want to work to break. Certainly, we are in close contact with the Israelis about this and everybody else who could be of——
Mr. BERMAN. Can you illustrate how that works, how those links are made? What kinds of activities are supported or directed? Can you link specific terrorist operations with Hezbollah?
Mr. URBANCIC. I will not go into specific operations, but the Palestinian——
Mr. BERMAN. Could you if this were a closed session?
Mr. URBANCIC. We could certainly say a lot more.
Mr. BERMAN. In other words, you do not have such information, or you do not have such information you want to share.
Page 56 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. URBANCIC. We have additional information that we could share in, you know, a more closed forum.
Mr. BERMAN. Okay. All right.
Mr. URBANCIC. But it is not a secret, and we do not try to hide the fact that Hezbollah clearly is interested in expanding its links to other terrorist organizations around the world, and it certainly has in the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr. BERMAN. ''Links'' is a funny term.
Mr. URBANCIC. Support.
Mr. BERMAN. Support. So, in this case, there are people working with Hezbollah and not for operations inside Lebanon or at the border with Israel but in the West Bank in Gaza.
Mr. URBANCIC. Again, Hezbollah's primary focus is Lebanon, which is not to say it does not also want contacts and support from and to other terrorist organizations, like minded, particularly anti-Israeli ones.
Mr. BERMAN. All right. Can you give an estimate of the number of rockets you think Hezbollah now still has, based on what remains and what has been resupplied, in Lebanon?
Page 57 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. URBANCIC. I will take the question. I cannot give it to you at this moment because I do not know.
Mr. BERMAN. You will take the question and try to answer it?
Mr. URBANCIC. Yes.
[The information referred to follows:]
WRITTEN RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM MR. FRANK C. URBANCIC, JR. TO QUESTION ASKED DURING THE HEARING BY THE HONORABLE HOWARD L. BERMAN
We do not have firm information in this regard. Hizballah has claimed 20,000 rockets, but we are not in a position to confirm or deny that number.
Mr. BERMAN. Okay. To what extent do we see activity by Hezbollah to rebuild infrastructure, to reestablish bunkers, to, in a sense, repair the damage done to their organizational military capabilities from the recent war?
Mr. URBANCIC. I think there is no doubt that they are trying to get resupplied and that the Iranians are happy to do that. At the moment, their emphasis, though, seems to be on establishing and consolidating their political base inside Lebanon, and they are doing that, as you know, through reconstruction efforts and through the spreading around of a lot of money, which is not to say that they have neglected their military wing, but the military part, for the moment, is not their emphasis, which is not to say that they are not going to do it the week after next.
Page 58 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. BERMAN. My final question. I think you may have covered this, but I was not quite sure what the answer is. Since the conflict with Israel, since the cease-fire resolution and the direct conflict ended, do we have evidence of resupply across the Syrian-Lebanon border of Hezbollah of military equipment?
Mr. URBANCIC. Let me take that question, and I will answer it back to you in writing.
[The information referred to follows:]
WRITTEN RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM MR. FRANK C. URBANCIC, JR. TO QUESTION ASKED DURING THE HEARING BY THE HONORABLE HOWARD L. BERMAN
Yes, we believe, based on information received, that resupply is occurring. We do not yet have sufficient information to make a public case.
Mr. BERMAN. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Berman.
We are going to go to Mr. Rohrabacher and then Ms. Berkley of Nevada.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for your leadership, Mr. Chairman, that you have provided in delving into issues that are so significant for our well-being as a people and the safety of our families today, and I appreciate the good work that you are doing, as represented by this hearing today.
Page 59 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
I would like to go on record right off the bat saying that I do not believe that it is appropriate for our Government to approach Hezbollah infiltrators into our country as potential fundraisers. I think that as we look at these people, we should be examining them as probable future terrorists and not just part of a fundraising team.
Mr. Chairman, when I take a look at the way the world works, Hezbollah does not have to raise $10,000 at a mosque in order to support its terrorist operations in Lebanon and in the Middle East or in other parts of the world. They have tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, available to them from Syria and Iran and other nation states, and the idea that they are coming over here simply to make contacts with a mosque in order to get a few thousand dollars, I think, has been counterproductive to the FBI and intelligence effort because it actually has put us at odds with some people at these mosques who may well be supporters of ours, if they were approached in a different way.
With that, let me ask you this. Have you been deterred? Has there been any hesitancy on the part of people like yourselves to engage in tough questioning of Hezbollah and other terrorist suspects due to the hoopla that we have seen in recent days in Washington, DC, about how you treat people who are incarcerated who are involved with terrorist networks?
Mr. KAVANAGH. Sir, I would like to make a couple of things clear. First of all, we are not saying all Arab mosques are engaged in terrorism, and what we do is basically, as you know, a very thorough investigation. Under the laws of the Constitution, what we have here, we are bound by them. If we can only show that these people are providing material support, then that is what they are going to be charged with. So you are saying that all fundraisers——
Page 60 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROHRABACHER. I am trying to tell you, my guess is, unless you can tell me now—maybe you have statistics—that the amount of material support coming out of, for example, hitting up mosques, local mosques, for contributions, is significant as compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars being shipped into this movement by Syria and Iran and others.
Mr. KAVANAGH. I would say, sir, if you asked me a question pertaining to the population that sympathizes or supports Hezbollah in this country, I would tell you that this is what we are seeing in the United States. We are seeing the support through the charitable organizations to funnel money back to Lebanon.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. How much are we talking about?
Mr. KAVANAGH. Excuse me?
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Are we talking about $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, $100,000?
Mr. KAVANAGH. I could tell you sir. I do not have the exact figure in front of me, but with the Middle East charitable organizations that are funneling money back to terrorist organizations, it is in the millions.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay, from the United States.
Page 61 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. KAVANAGH. Correct.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Okay. When you say ''in the millions,'' I take it that that is a couple of million dollars, not $100 million. I guess what I am trying to suggest to you is that approaching these people as fundraisers, my guess is that the fundraising activity is only used, frankly, as a cover in order for people to make contact and find potential people who might be sympathetic with them rather than as an actual instrument of raising the funds necessary to conduct a terrorist operation.
I have to move on to one last question because I see my red light is on there.
And, again, we have got to get tough with Syria and Iran to the degree that we, in some way, enrage Muslims that could be our friends, that is counterproductive. Did the Saudis and the Jordanians and the Egyptians, during this recent fighting and the battle between Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas, did not the Saudis and the Jordanians and Egyptians, did they actually come out pretty much condemning Hezbollah, as they should have, I might add, because Hezbollah obviously started, as their Chairman noted, started shooting rockets into Israel, and Israel's response, I think, was totally justified.
But usually we do not see the Saudis or the Jordanians and the Egyptians come on board in condemning that type of activity, but did we not see that this time?
Mr. URBANCIC. Congressman, yes, and what we saw was an evolution over time in the general public reaction, and as the public reaction changed, then the public posture of those governments changed as well. But yes, especially when the kidnappings took place, and the first rockets started hitting Israel, there was great shock throughout the Arab world and some considerable understanding of the Israeli position.
Page 62 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. ROHRABACHER. I close just by suggesting that if we are going to win this war with radical Islam, we have got to try our best to work with those moderate Muslim elements that also deplore the killing of innocent men, women, and children by terrorist actions. So thank you very much.
Mr. URBANCIC. We absolutely concur.
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. Ms. Berkley, and then we will go to Mr. Weller of Illinois.
Ms. BERKLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, gentlemen, for being here to share your knowledge with us. I have a number of questions, but perhaps the first one that I would like to get an answer for is, if Hezbollah was created in 1982 for the purpose of ending the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, and the Israelis withdrew from Lebanon over 6 years ago, can you enlighten me as to what the purpose of Hezbollah is at this point in time?
Mr. URBANCIC. Well, I remember an old saying that there is nothing as permanent as a temporary quonset hut. They had a stated goal, but they——
Ms. BERKLEY [continuing]. Which they have achieved.
Mr. URBANCIC [continuing]. Which they have achieved. They will tell you, of course, that Shebba Farms justifies their continued military——
Page 63 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Ms. BERKLEY. But I thought that was disputed territory with Syria.
Mr. URBANCIC. Well, should be, but, you know, you have to have a fig leaf, and so they have got their fig leaf.
The fact is they have established themselves. They are a functioning political and other type of party. They are a terrorist organization as well, but they have very deep pockets, and they provide a lot of services that the central government has not been able to provide in the south, and, therefore, they exist, and they function, and they continue to go forward. They really do not need, from their point of view, to justify their existence.
Ms. BERKLEY. Why is it that the Lebanese Government cannot provide these services to southern Lebanon?
Mr. URBANCIC. It has been very difficult for them. They went through a 15-year civil war, and now, of course, the situation, we hope, is changing, and we are working very strongly with the central government to support the Sinora government to allow them to do development down there and to begin to strengthen themselves to a point that they effectively control. This is the first time the LAF has been deployed in the south, as you know, for years.
Ms. BERKLEY. This is my concern. Israel endured 6 years of Katyusha rockets being lobbed at them from Lebanon by Hezbollah. Now, I understand, or I have been told, that Katyusha rockets are very inaccurate, but if one lands on you, it is extraordinarily accurate.
Page 64 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Hezbollah kidnapped two soldiers that started a war with Israel in August that, quite candidly, was tragic, not only for the Israeli people, and I think it was, but particularly for the people of Lebanon. There was a level of sophistication of weaponry and technology that heretofore had not been fully appreciated. After 32 days of serious bombardment by the Israelis, IDF, which is supposed to be the best military force in the world, on the very last day, Hezbollah was still able to lob 300 rockets into Israel, not exactly something that gives any of us a sense of security.
I was in Israel the day the cease fire was signed, and it was not too long after the cease fire was signed, and 1701 was approved by the United Nations, Hezbollah has already declared, through Nasrallah, that they are not going to disarm, and he was very brazen in what he said. He bragged, and I know that Mr. Kavanagh is going to tell us, perhaps behind closed doors, how many rockets they are supposed to have, but Nasrallah said he had over 20,000 rockets that were ready to go and be launched against Israel. That is after 32 days of being bombarded.
We know for an absolute certainty that Iran, with the help of Syria, is re-arming Hezbollah, even though that is against the United Nations resolution that was passed by the Security Council, and they have already stated that they have no intentions of ceding any land in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese military, and they are not going to adhere to U.N. Resolution 1701.
So, knowing all of these things, and knowing that the European Union—I do not know what one has to be to be named a terrorist organization by the European Union and the fact that the Arab countries and our so-called ''allies'' in the region, which, in my opinion, is a joke, to call very many of the Arab nations an ally of the United States of America. I think perhaps they have the most vested interest in disarming Hezbollah and eliminating this threat to Lebanon.
Page 65 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
I do not see them doing anything. I do not see the European Union doing anything, and I am very concerned that the United States of America cannot go alone in this. Now, what do you think it will take to get the rest of the world engaged in this war against terrorism, which will have profound repercussions and ramifications to not only the State of Israel but certainly Lebanon, the entire region?
Mr. URBANCIC. A number of points. I will try to address as many as I can, and please remind me of the ones that I miss.
I think the first thing we have to do is implement 1701. That is the primary thing. We do have good cooperation. The Germans are actually involved.
Ms. BERKLEY. What about the Lebanese Government?
Mr. URBANCIC. And the Lebanese Government as well, absolutely. We have to work with the Lebanese Government to get them the strength to be able to expand their authority in the south. There is no doubt that this is a deficient situation. It is not a pleasant situation. It is not one that we want to see continue.
Mr. ROYCE. We are going to go to Mr. Weller of Illinois and then Mr. Cardoza of California.
Mr. WELLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Page 66 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. Urbancic, shifting back to our own hemisphere, we have been treated, over the last few weeks, by seeing the President of Venezuela publicly embrace the President of Iran, declaring solidarity and support for the Iranian agenda. Last year, President Chavez likened his own Bolivarian Revolution to the Iranian Revolution in a speech in Tehran.
I would like to get from you a perspective. Since Hezbollah is an Iranian-sponsored, terrorist group, tell us about what you know, and you can share with us, about Hezbollah activities inside Venezuela.
Mr. URBANCIC. Congressman, I think you may recall, the last time I was before this Committee, we spoke of Venezuela, and President Chavez was, at that time, just beginning to launch his world tour. We are very, very concerned. He has a border with Colombia. Colombia is a center of narcoterrorism.
There is a large Hezbollah nexus to Venezuela. I do not want to go into names or details, but it is something that we are conscious of, that we are watching, and that we are very concerned about, and given the proclivities of the Chavez Government, it is not a reassuring situation at all.
Mr. WELLER. Well, you mentioned Colombia, and, of course, the FARC, the narcoterrorist group—it is internationally recognized as such—operates in Colombia, but the so-called ''foreign minister of the FARC'' was found to be in Caracas with Venezuelan identity papers giving him Venezuelan citizenship, you know, essentially suggesting that FARC operatives may have some sort of safe haven in Venezuela.
Page 67 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Is Hezbollah operating under the same type of opportunity? Is there a safe haven for Hezbollah inside Venezuela?
Mr. URBANCIC. The development of Venezuela as a safe haven for all kinds of really objectionable activities is something that we are extremely concerned about, and we certainly would not exclude Hezbollah activities in Venezuela as an area that we need to watch and worry about.
Mr. WELLER. We have seen an increase in anti-Semitic activity in Latin America. Last year, there were armed military sent into a Jewish grade school in Venezuela on a school day. Children were present. A pretty intimidating action by the Venezuelan Government, and, at the same time, this year we are seeing the Chavez Government say, after joint appearances with the Iranian President, that it is going to withdraw diplomatic relations with Israel, something I think we should all be very concerned about as we watch what is going on in our back yard.
I realize I am running out of time here, but let me go back a few years. You know, Hezbollah, along with its main patron, Iran, was involved in this hemisphere in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, and later, in 1994, they bombed a Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires. Can you share with me what the status of holding those accountable for those actions, what we are doing to hold the Iranian leadership accountable? But also tell us what the current Government of Argentina, the Kirchner Government, is doing to hold those terrorists accountable for those actions against the Jewish community, as well as the Nation of Israel and their own capital.
Page 68 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. URBANCIC. The Kirchner Government actually is active. I think that we would all agree that there were some mistakes made, particularly with the Interpol red notices, but they are actively pursuing this case, and we think, and we hope, that when they get to the point of issuing new warrants, that Interpol will honor those.
The Iranian connection is clear. It is hard to imagine a country that has worse relations than us with Iran, and we are doing everything we can to bring that government, to make it accountable for a whole host of horrible terrorist associations that it has and groups that it supports. It is a tough slog. We have not succeeded in convincing some of our best friends—not our best friends but some of our critical allies to take a harder stand, but we are working very hard in the U.N. and elsewhere to bring the Iranians and to make them accountable and to get them to change their behavior. That has not been an easy row to hoe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Cardoza?
Mr. CARDOZA. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know we may have votes at any minute, so I will try and be brief. I appreciate you holding this hearing. I continue to be concerned, as this whole Committee does, on the whole threat of shoulder-fired missiles targeting domestic aviation.
When you put them in the hands of these people, who have clearly demonstrated their lack of concern for civilian populations by firing Katyusha rockets at Israel—a number of Members of this Committee, including Ms. Berkley and I, traveled to Israel about 3 years ago, and the day after we left a particular kibutz that we stayed in overnight, the kibutz was fired on by Katyusha rockets.
Page 69 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
This is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on in Israel for years, the firing of rockets against innocent civilians in that country, and the recent war just made it more of a concern.
What concerns me even more is Hezbollah's efforts to win the hearts and minds of the world population and the Lebanese population by their perceived altruistic contributions to that population, and, in my opinion, it is surrogates trying to allow them to buy friends in that population. Clearly, they are spending billions of dollars in the reconstruction effort in Lebanon.
My question to you is, can you trace where those billions of dollars are coming from, and are you able to tell us where those dollars are coming from today?
Mr. URBANCIC. I cannot say to the extent of 100 percent, but there is no question that Iran is supplying very significant amounts of money to Hezbollah, and much of that goes through Syria, and it is supplied because, as you say, the Iranians want to use Hezbollah as a surrogate. They want to strengthen Hezbollah as a counter, from their point of view, to Israeli influence in the region, and they want to, frankly, use them as proxies against us. It is a straightforward proposition.
Mr. CARDOZA. Any good detective will tell you, if you want to find the base of criminal activity, find out who the criminal is, you follow the money. Do you have any idea the degree, how much money they are getting, and do you also know of any legitimate means that Hezbollah has of raising dollars in Lebanon itself?
Page 70 PREV PAGE TOP OF DOC
Mr. URBANCIC. The dollar contribution of Iran to Hezbollah, I could not tell you. I do not know. I can try to find out, and if we can give you an answer, I will send it to you.
[The information referred to follows:]
WRITTEN RESPONSE RECEIVED FROM MR. FRANK C. URBANCIC, JR. TO QUESTION ASKED DURING THE HEARING BY THE HONORABLE DENNIS A. CARDOZA
Because of the clandestine nature of funding for Hizballah, we can only estimate its financial resources. Iran probably provides in excess of $100 million per year. Hizballah also receives funds from other sources, including private charitable donations made to its social and cultural organizations, and profits from businesses, like its construction arm, Jihad al-Binaa. Post-conflict, Hizballah promised to pay between $10,000 and $12,000 for each household to compensate for the loss of a home, apartment or other dwelling. One estimate says that 15,000 people have received this payout. If only half that number were paid at the lower figure, that makes a minimum of $75,000,000. So far as we know, most of this funding has come from Iran.
Mr. URBANCIC. But, yes, Hezbollah, as I was mentioning to Congresswoman Berkley, it is more than a military organization. It is a military organization, it is a terrorist organization, but it is also a business. It runs TV stations. It runs banks. It runs hospitals. It runs clinics. It has a whole series of, if not legitimate, at least, on the face of it, innocent-appearing corporations. It has a very wide reach throughout Lebanon and throughout the world, and it has a huge fundraising mechanism. It does diamonds. It does—you name it.