A recent investigative report by Josh Meyer published by POLITICO alleges that the Obama administrations and Obama himself politically interfered in a global criminal justice operation —dubbed Project Cassandra— against Hezbollah. The reason? To facilitate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
The codename given to the investigation into Hezbollah’s global economic network was “Operation Cassandra,” and it alleges to have discovered the mechanics behind the group’s self-sustaining financial ecosystem, some of which supposedly dealt with organized criminal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering.
This campaign was launched in 2008 after the DEA discovered evidence that pointed to the fact that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East terrorist/political organization into an international crime syndicate that some believed was collecting over $1 billion a year from illegal drug and weapons trafficking.
The task force consisted of over 30 United States and foreign security agencies which tracked Hezbollah’s illegal activities all across the US, Latin America, West Africa, Europe and the Middle East over the course of eight years. Everything was going great according to investigators, but then they ran head-first into a White House administration that was adamant about securing a nuclear deal with Iran.
The point here is not to analyze or summarize what was contained in the POLITICO exposé. The point here is to analyze the significance of this report being made public now.
The report drops some pretty big bombshells. But the largest bombshell has nothing to do with the alleged facts the report uncovered, but in fact deals directly with the claims from members of the operation that the Obama administration was undermining their work. The reason: the administration feared that taking any action against Hezbollah would endanger the efforts of the White House to secure the 2015 nuclear deal with Hezbollah’s benefactors—Iran.
You have to really think about this for a minute and really analyze what’s going on. The current narrative of the Republicans is that the Obama administration weaponized federal agencies to further the agenda of the White House. This report seems to confirm that narrative.
In fact, if the allegations in the POLITICO report are true, this would represent a major split within the “deep state” everyone is talking about. This report suggests that the State Department and possibly even the CIA were conspiring (with the full support of the White House) to subvert and undermine the law enforcement and investigative duties of the FBI and the DEA. All on behalf of then-President Barack Obama.
The implications here are enormous and could have far-reaching political ramifications.
Consider that these allegations, at the very least, seem to confirm the Republican accusation that the Obama administration was selling out domestic security interests in order to pursue what was then a risky and is now a failed foreign policy gamble of trying to co-opt Iran through an alliance with its ruling “moderate” elites.
Now consider that many of the “deep state” figures involved in this scandal are probably still working for the government. This very well could be the silver bullet that would allow the Trump administration to start “cleaning house,” by removing or at least politically neutralizing those Obama-era “deep state” operatives.
Then there is also the obvious damage to American-Iranian relations. But what many people are missing is the international aspect and the effect this report will have on US policy towards Latin America. Thank you, Mr. Obama.
You see, in the report, POLITICO alleges that “Operation Cassandra” uncovered a diverse criminal network. A network that knew no boundaries. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant. This report could very well be the impetus for President Trump to further tighten US Security, not just at the Mexican border but throughout Latin America.
Just consider how this news could be used to tighten security arrangements with our Latin America partners in the theater-wide asymmetrical counteroffensive of Operation Condor 2.0. For those of you that don’t know, Operation Condor 2.0 has been an ongoing military action since the 2009 coup against leftist Honduran president Manuel Zelaya.
Then consider the allegations of the Venezuelan government’s complicity in the Hezbollah’s global criminal enterprise and you can see how this report might just very well be the basis for new sanctions against the “Bolivarian Republic.”
One thing is for sure. This is a developing scandal and will take some time to unfold. But bet your bottom dollar, this damaging exposé will only serve to further the “deep state’s” war on the Trump administration. And of course, the mainstream media is silent on the subject.
Now consider that Jeff Sessions recently ordered the review of the abandoned Hezbollah-linked drug prosecutions. Could we see an indictment against Obama for high crimes and misdemeanors…if not outright treason? Possibly, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
