The Homeland Hack

This is my story today on the possible threat to the United States posed by Hezbollah. As I note in the second paragraph: current U.S. intelligence assessments "indicate the group's strategic posture up till now appears designed to avoid direct confrontation with the United States."The concern is, what would happen if that strategic posture changes?U.S intelligence officials believe they have a pretty good handle on Hezbollah's strategic intentions, but they remain focused on what capacities the group might have in place to use in an attack in the United States if those intentions change.This is where the focus turns to the border. On a number of occasions, U.S. officials have publicly quoted intelligence reports to the effect that Jihadi groups believed being smuggled in across the border offered advantages from an operational security perspective, because U.S. authorities would not then know of their presence in the country.The case they tend to cite in support of this thesis is that of Mahmoud Youseff Kourani, a Hezbollah supporter who was smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border in the trunk of a car in February 2001.The fact is Hezbollah has a world-wide network of supporters, including in the United States. Generally speaking, U.S. intelligence sees the Hezbollah presence here as being logistical (fund-raising and some procurement), rather than operational.Bu the Madrid transit attacks last year, carried out by a group of al-Qaida supporters -- some known to the authorities, but believed to be logistics guys -- have changed the equation. Now everyone linked to Hezbollah is seen as a potential operational threat.Nonetheless, the organization is disciplined and -- as I said -- currently appears committed to avoiding a direct clash with the United States.Which is why the feds regard a lone-wolf attack as being as great a danger.