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Israel's assassination Monday of Hamas leader Khaled Abu Shamiyeh was a significant victory in the country's war against Palestinian terrorism. But it was by no means a decisive blow. Although Hamas has suffered numerous setbacks over the past several months - including the deaths of group kingpins Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi - it continues to expand its operations on a global scale. And, contrary to the longtime press canard that Hamas "only" seeks the destruction of Israel, and bears no ill will toward America, America is anything but safe from the group's wrath.
On August 20, two suspected high-level Hamas operatives, Mohammed Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, were detained on American soil and charged with providing material support to Hamas, racketeering, and money laundering.
That same day, accused Hamas money man Ismail Elbarasse was arrested after authorities witnessed his wife videotaping Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge from their SUV as Mr. Elbarasse drove. The images captured by Mr. Elbarasse's wife included close-ups of cables and other features "integral to the structural integrity of the bridge," according to court papers.
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Hamas terrorist leader Ahmed al-Rantisi may be dead, but his vow to strike America is very much alive.
Shortly before he was killed, Rantisi told an audience at the Islamic University in Gaza that President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon were “enemies of God,”adding that “God declared war against America.” On April 18, shortly after the Israelis killed Rantisi, another terrorist group, Hezbollah, released a statement that said: “The American administration, which provides cover, both moral and political, as well as material support to the murderous government in Tel Aviv, has direct responsibility for this crime.”
While that kind of rhetoric may sound typical for a terrorist leader in the Middle East today, it caught the attention of American counter-terrorist agents. In early 2002, the FBI concluded in an internal review that between 50 and 100 Hamas and Hezbollah operatives had already infiltrated America. The operatives were in America working on fund-raising and logistics, and they had received terrorist and military training from Lebanon and other countries in the Middle East, according to current and former intelligence officials. The FBI later concluded that Hamas and Hezbollah had the capacity to launch terrorist strikes on the homeland, but did not believe they intended to do so.
The recent developments represent a potentially deadly development in the war on terrorism, suggesting a traditional boundary between Israeli and American targets for these groups was now blurred. While Hamas rescinded Mr. Rantisi’s remarks shortly after he made them, the rising anti-American rhetoric stemming from the terror organizations has prompted increased scrutiny of their networks in America.
“In time, a very volatile and vitriolic hostility brewing in Gaza in particular will slowly suffuse itself to Hamas and Hezbollah cells in America. In the past couple of years we have already seen inflammatory rhetoric from their supporters in the United States. At some point in time it’s like the glass rod will snap,” a former senior FBI counterterrorism agent, Ken Piernick, told The New York Sun yesterday.
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Hamas has cells inside the United States that are technically capable of attacking the country, terrorism experts and senior security officials told WorldNetDaily.
The officials were responding to a WND exclusive interview last week in which Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Zahar warned President Bush's actions in the Middle East are "placing America in danger."
"We have information Hamas agents have been on U.S. soil the past few years and that the group may currently have up to 100 agents operating inside America," said an FBI counterterrorism agent in New York speaking on condition of anonymity since he is not authorized to talk to the media.
The comments reaffirm testimony to the U.S. Senate this past February in which FBI Director Robert Mueller stated, "Although it would be a major strategic shift for Hamas, its United States network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the United States."
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In February 2005 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged that “of all the Palestinian groups,
Hamas has the largest presence in the U.S. with a robust infrastructure, primarily focused on fundraising, propaganda for the Palestinian cause, and proselytizing.” During that same hearing, Director Mueller acknowledged that Hamas’ “United States network is theoretically capable of facilitating acts of terrorism in the United States.”
An Islamic Jihadist here, an Islamic Jihadist there, no big deal right? Keep telling yourself that, NK.