US Congress seeks military action on Hezbollah, Hamas

The United States should conduct military strikes against Hezbollah and Hamas facilities in the Middle East before engaging in any military action against Iraq, the leaders of an influential US Senate committee demanded Sunday.

Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham and his Republican counterpart, Richard Shelby, made their recommendation amid increasing concern among member of the US intelligence community that if faced with certain downfall, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could hand over weapons of mass destruction to regional terrorist groups.

"Against those international terrorists such as Hezbollah and Hamas, we need to be launching attacks on their headquarters and their training camps so that they will not be in a position to provide support for their terrorists that are embedded in the United States or be developing the next generation of terrorists," said Graham, appearing on CNN's "Late Edition" program.

"Hezbollah and some others are probably the A team, not the B team or the C team, as far as potential terrorist threats to this country," he said.

The White House had no immediate comment. But if accepted, the plan would represent a dramatic broadening of the war on terror, which so far has been focused on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

President George W. Bush and other US officials have repeatedly mentioned the possibility of Iraqi transfers of chemical or biological weapons to groups bent on causing harm to Israel and the United States as the prime rationale for seeking the removal of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power.

But Washington has refrained from direct military action against most of the organizations mentioned on the State Department's terrorism list because of diplomatic consideration, according to US officials.

Hezbollah, which has extensive bases and training camps in Lebanon as well as cells in various part of the world, enjoys strong material support of Iran and Syria, the officials said.

The radical Shiite group is blamed for the 1993 suicide truck bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, and the 1985 hijacking of a Trans World Airlines plane, during which a US Navy diver was murdered. It is also the chief suspect in the 1994 bombing of an Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, operates primarily from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and draws its financial support from Palestinian expatriates, Iran, and private benefactors in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, according to the officials.

Hamas has claimed responsibility for scores of suicide bombings in Israel, but so far has not directly struck any US targets.

With the White House considering military action against Iraq, Graham warned it would be dangerous to move against Baghdad without first neutralizing these groups that could be recruited by Iraq for revenge missions and inherit its weapons of mass destruction.

"In my judgment, it is a dereliction of duty to the American people not to disable those organizations to the maximum extent possible before we get into that position where we are the bull's eye of Saddam Hussein's attack, and we have the capability of such disablement," the senator said.

Graham argued that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who he said has control over Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, should be given an ultimatum: "We expect you to take care of this problem, but if you don't, we're going to take care of this problem," he said.

Let me see if I have this right. Hamas blows up a bus in Jerusalem so we launch air strikes on the occupied territories. Does that mean that if bin Laden blows up a building in Des Moines that we will expect Israel to launch air strikes in Afganistan?

Other than, Non-Sequitur, I completely missed that in the article. I read Bob Graham say

and Richard Shelby saying

"Hezbollah and some others are probably the A team, not the B team or the C team, as far as potential terrorist threats to this country,"

Neither the bombing in Jerusalem nor terrorist activities in Israel seem to have entered the equation as far as Shelby and Graham are concerned. It's about the threat they pose to the US.

I agree with them. Both groups are our enemies, both have carried out attacks against US interests. Both groups have networks in the US. I've no doubt they'd cooperate with Sadaam. I suspect they'd be at the top of his list in terms of transfering chemical or biological weapons for a hit on the US. They're legitimate targets.

You may disagree that they're our enemies, or that they're a threat, but the fact that they bomb Jews in Israel isn't much to base that viewpoint on.

I said both have carried out attacks against US interests, not that Hamas has struck within the US, yet. They have attacked US interests and killed Americans.

From the IDF website

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The Hamas Website Provides A Platform For Surfers Who Support The Murder Of American Citizens

Participants in a chat- forum of the official Hamas website have discussed ways and methods to murder American citizens. What appears below are their comments, as found on the site.

1. Al- Awsad (user number 1):

Once a week, a group of American "dogs" come near us on the sea front. I have been following them for a long time and am interested in your suggestions for ways to get rid of them secretly.

2. Salam (user number 2):

If they arrive in a private car, put a large amount of sugar in the gas tank of the car. Then, you can ambush them on the way back because the car will get stuck in the way. You will have many options to get rid of them. You can run them over on the road, after they abandon the broken down car. You can put a trap on the beach if they tend do a a lot of walking. If you have people with you and 4 cars, you can stop them at a certain point on the road, at a traffic light for example, block them from all directions and burn them in their cars using a Molotov cocktail.

3. MSKZ (user number 3):

Read Koran verses on them and then kill them one by one, after you have made sure they are Israeli American tyrants.

4. Al- Awsad (user number 1):

Thank you all very much, but I would like to get rid of them quietly. They have a cabin on the beach were they meet every week. It is very easy to get into; that is, the operation can be carried out using a poison gas or an electrical short circuit. Don't forget that they have communications devices like cellular phones etc, and that there are between 5-10 Americans.

5. Habib Allah (user number 4):

I believe that if you sneak in (the cabin) on days they are not there and spread an effective and quick poison that works on contact with places like door handles and telephones, or put poison in the food or on cups and plates, it would be very effective because it would kill them on the spot. You can search for a way to prepare the poison on the forum itself. But my advice to you is that you get to know the poison extremely well or get help from someone who is in a science or pharmaceutics faculty.

6. Al- Awsad (user number 1):

This is an excellent way, but what are the strong poisonous materials that act quickly? Maybe I should put the poison in the water (tank) before they come?

7. Saafalaha (user number 5):

Why be discrete? Let them serve as an example for others like them. Let the Americans understand that they are not safe in Muslim countries. Burning their car is excellent or you could shoot all of them. The country is filled with weapons.

8. UNITY_MANAGER (user number 6):

Put cyanide in the water (tank). They will die within 10 seconds. They won't even have time to scream in pain. Make sure that they deserve to die, that is, that they are soldiers or Jews or something like that.

9. Al- Nasaf (user number 7):

The members have made useful suggestions, but have you considered the consequences!! Do you think the government in your country will leave you alone? Don't you think it will investigate the incident? Don't you think it will accuse you? Of it will. I beg you to be careful, if you are not sure, this operation is not necessary.

10. MOUHY (user number 8):

Spread rat poison in their food.

11. BINZ (user number 9):

The easiest way is to put a little arsenic in the water tank, if you know for sure they drink from it. If you don't want the operation to be revealed as a premeditated action, put pieces of rusted copper in the water tank. This way the investigators will think that the pieces fell in by accident and won't suspect it is a criminal act.

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I wouldn't worry too much about US strikes in Lebanon or Syria. First, I've seen speculation that underlying Syria's support in the security council was a message the US delivered in frank terms that we consider Hizbollah to be under Syrian control, and to stay out of our actions in Iraq (ie, don't start shelling Israel from Lebanon in hopes of broadening the war). If they don't, you won't need US planes to strike them, you'll simply have to take the handcuffs off Israel.

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