Connecting the Dots Essential to Preventing Iranian-Sponsored Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Soil

On March 21, 2012, the House Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Congressman Peter King, held a hearing titled “Iran, Hezbollah, and the Threat to the Homeland.” According to a subsequent Huffington Post article, King stated that “there may be hundreds of Hezbollah operatives in the United States.”

As the United States continues to face the potential of terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, Hezbollah posing a growing threat. The Huffington Post article states:

"As Iran moves closer to nuclear weapons and there is increasing concern over war between Iran and Israel, we must also focus on Iran's secret operatives and their number one terrorist proxy force, Hezbollah, which we know is in America," said New York Rep. Peter King at a Wednesday hearing of his committee.”

The hearing follows a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C., and testimony by the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that Iran's leaders are "more willing to conduct an attack inside the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime."

Iranians shock troops that live in South America and immerse themselves in the language and culture of Latin America could easily run our porous border and take a mundane job while they await instructions calling them to action against the U.S.

In January 1993, a Pakistani national, Mir Kansi stood outside CIA Headquarters with an AK-47 and opened fire. When the smoke dissipated, two CIA officers lay dead and three others were seriously wounded.  Kansi, who initially fled the United States was captured and made to stand trial in the United States.  He was found guilty and executed.  If was determined that he had previously lied on his application for political asylum. Had this fraud been detected and Kansi deported, those officers would be alive and well today.

Just one month later, a bomb-laden truck was detonated under the World Trade Center. The blast killed six victims, wounded hundreds and nearly brought one of the towers down sideways.  This attack was also carried out by alien terrorists who gamed the visa and immigration systems so they could enter and remain in the U.S. as they prepared for the attack.

The attacks of 9/11 were committed by foreign terrorists in the U.S. illegally. In fact, the 9/11 Commission found that of 94 terrorists identified as operating in our country in the decade leading up to 9/11, two thirds committed visa fraud and/or immigration fraud.

Clearly, failures of the immigration system have been linked to previous terrorist attacks and yet the vulnerabilities remain. Ironically, President Obama gave a speech at Disney World recently calling for streamlining the Visa process for aliens from China and Brazil saying that his goal was to cut the waiting time for visas by 40 percent.

There is an inverse proportion between speed and accuracy; the faster a task must be accomplished, the more likely that errors will be made.  Errors in this process can provide criminals and terrorists access to our nation.  Now apparently there will be even more pressure brought to bear to move the applications at warp speed!  It is easier and far quicker to approve these applications than deny them.

While most of the terrorists who have sought to or successfully attacked our nation were admitted by committing visa fraud or overstaying the terms of their admission, they weren’t taken into custody and nothing of consequence has been done to plug this gaping hole in the system.

The time has come for our government to try a novel approach – connect the dots and take appropriate actions before there is another terrorist attack!