Iran Entering Nicaragua - Does Anybody Care?

The article “Iran Making Push into Nicaragua” by Todd Bensman published by the San Antonio Express-News obviously caught my attention.

Just in case you didn't know the guy to the right of Mahmoud is Ortega. Remember him?

Why did the article caught my attention?

With numerous Iranian-supported Hezbollah training camps, especially in Paraguay, recruiting centers throughout Latin America, the strong support that Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad give each other, the oil deals between Castro and China, and let’s just add Saudi Arabia to the picture too, Latin America is increasingly becoming more active and determined in its support for not only the largest Lebanese terrorist organization, Hezbollah, but worse yet, Iran.

Latin America’s support to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations (let’s not forget Bin Laden’s numerous trips to Paraguay and neighboring countries in the early 90s) is nothing new; however, its willingness to support state-funded terrorist organizations is definitely on the rise.

Otrgega, Cuba, China, "El Che". Sound familiar?

The picture below shows a Latin American Yahoo group or “groupos” in Spanish and it’s got near a million members, predominately young high school and university students (typical). The group’s name is “Hezbollah” and it just shows how accepted the terrorist organization is in Latin America. In fact, Hezbollah is not viewed or categorized as a terrorist organization.

This whole Latin American picture kind of reminds me of the good old Soviet days with Red China and its support to “Sendero Luminoso” or the Shining Path guerrilla group from Peru, the Soviet Union’s love relationship with Cuba, its proliferation of Chile with the Allende administration, Paraguay, Colombia (The FARC), Nicaragua and the “Sandinistas” with the infamous Ortega… It’s as if the world politik chess game did not change, but what changed are the players and how these players play. Well… let’s just say that the rules have also changed. Some don’t get deterred and are willing to do what it takes at any cost.

Détente (razryadka) - useless!

Jihad Watch expresses its opinion about the article with…

"And an Iranian foothold gives rise to numerous concerns, including weapons smuggling, the presence of more Hezbollah fronts, as in Venezuela, and Iran's other possible plans, recalling the 1994 bombing in Argentina in which high-level Iranian officials have been implicated. Not to mention the possibility of Iran's using Nicaragua as a base from which to attack the U.S. and other targets in the Western Hemisphere in the event of military intervention against its nuclear program."

Thank you Jihad Watch!

Iranian supported Hezbollah Bombing in Buenos Aires, 1992

A little thing worries me about the article by Todd Bensman

"What worries state department officials, former national security officials and counterterrorism researchers is that, if attacked, Iran could stage strikes on American or allied interests from Nicaragua, deploying the Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guard operatives already in Latin America. Bellicose threats by Iran's clerical leadership to hit American interests worldwide if attacked, by design or not, heighten the anxiety.

The bottom line is if there is a confrontation with Iran, and Iran gets bombed, I have absolutely no doubt that Iran is going to lash out globally," said John R. Schindler, a veteran former counterintelligence officer and analyst for the National Security Agency.

The Iranians have that ability, particularly from South America. Hezbollah has fronts all over Latin America. That is not new. But it's certainly something we're starting to care about now." NOT TRUE! Nobody cares.

Anyways, you can view Jihad Watch’s view on the whole article by Todd Bensman here.