Updates: Hezbollah, Pakistan, Turkey, Oh My!

Instead of a normal article, this week I will be providing updates on some of the stories that I have covered in the past. These updates are organized in the order the original articles were posted.

Iran's Connections in the Western Hemisphere

It is common knowledge in counter-terrorism circles that Iran has been very interested in expanding their operations in the Western Hemisphere. The relationship between Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has grown even more chummy over the past few months. As the Western world finds itself increasingly under seige, Tehran and Caracas have bonded over their mutual dislike for anything resembling the culture and society that made the West great. Think of them as being the two old hecklers from "The Muppet Show," except they also like to chuck dynamite onto the stage as well to further destabilize the situation.

Iran's proxy Hezbollah has been busy, as well. They have spent several years securing a position in the Tri-Border Area of South America, something the U.S. intelligence community has been well aware of for quite some time. As mentioned in the original article, Hezbollah has established close ties to powerful drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. The instability in Mexico is a great way for Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations to make money, purchase or sell weapons, and trade information and training with the cartels and each other. American and Mexican law enforcement have been tracking increased activity centered around drug and arms trading between terrorist groups and major cartels. To make matters worse, the Cubans have joined in on the game, opening their doors to Hezbollah to establish a real presence on the Caribbean island stragetically located only 90 miles away from the United States. As Iran strengthens its position in the backyard of the most powerful nation on Earth (you don't get to be the "Great Satan" for nothing) it is shocking to see so little attention paid to these stories by the rest of the media.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Pakistan?

Oh, Pakistan. From your corrupt and strongly Islamist military to the near-constant hell you put your Christian population through, could we really have asked for a better ally? For those of you in the audience that are sarcasm-deficient, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Basically anybody would be a better ally at such a crucial moment (maybe even the Turks, though that ship is sailing fast). As America, and the world, prepares to remember the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, you can bet your bottom dollar (go ahead, it's not really worth much anyway) that right around the corner we'll be hearing about the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. While Iraq, the so-called "bad war," has all but wrapped up, Afghanistan continues to waste American lives, money, and resources. Why is that? Are the soldiers in Afghanistan just not as good as those sent to Iraq? Or could the huge safe zone along the border with Pakistan that allows Taliban troops to move with ease and lukewarm support from our supposed ally have something to do with it? Don't answer that, it was rhetorical.

In other fun news, an incident occured between Indian and Pakistani forces stationed in Kashmir on Wednesday. The Pakistani's claimed the Indians attacked them without provocation. We should trust them. I mean, it's not like they've lied to us in the past, snuck around our backs to get nukes, or sheltered the most wanted terrorist in the entire history of the world, right? Anyway, a showdown between Pakistan and India would not be in the interest of world peace, but it could provide yet another rallying cry for the global Caliphate that is slowly but surely coming together.

Islamists Flexing Their Muscles in Turkey

And finally, we come to Turkey. On the international front, Turkey's relationship with Israel has become rocky, to put it very mildly. They have expelled the Israeli ambassador because Israel has refused to apologize for the flotilla raid last year. Turkey has also said, in spite of a report from the UN which cleared Israel of illegal activity (I know, I had to read that one again, too), they will continue to demand an apology, compensation to the families of the nine people killed, and an official end to the Gaza blockade. In response, Israel laughed so hard that milk squirted out of their nose. Okay, I may have added that last part, but it wouldn't surprise me if it actually happened.

I mentioned in my previous article that, after Ataturk abolished the Caliphate, it was the constitutional mandate of the Turkish military to prevent the nation from falling back into the grip of Sharia and Islamism. Well, Prime Minister Erdogan will not let a little thing like that stand in his way. Very recently, the head of the Turkish armed forces decided to "retire" at the same time as the officers in charge of Turkey's ground, naval, and air forces. That would be equivilant to the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff deciding to spontaneously resign from their posts at the same time. From another perspective, it would be like the entire Supreme Court (as protectors of the Constitution) deciding to retire at the same time for no particular reason. But this little news story received so little attention I didn't even know about it until a couple of weeks ago. As the movement to restore the Caliphate gains steam, it is more than a little ironic that the same country that abolished the Caliphate is jockeying for position as a possible seat of power should a new one arise.

If you have anything you'd like to add to these stories, or perhaps something I may have overlooked, please leave me some Comments below.