The United States government under former President Barack Obama largely ignored the menace against the U.S. posed by the criminal enterprise run by Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah in America’s backyard, Latin America.
Despite the repeated warnings during the previous administration from the U.S. military and the State Department that Hezbollah’s operations in Latin America, primarily drug trafficking, pose a threat to the United States, the Obama administration and mainstream media seldom devoted time to it.
While the U.S. armed forces cautioned against the Hezbollah threat, the Obama administration argued that Iran’s presence in the Western Hemisphere was “waning.”
In a report published this week, Politico, citing federal investigators who worked under the former president, revealed that the Obama administration ignored the threat as a means to secure passage of the Iran nuclear deal the news outlet has praised in the past.
A day after the deal was announced, former President Obama himself conceded Iran would fund Hezbollah with sanction relief funds made available through the deal.
On July 15, Obama said, “They are currently supporting Hezbollah, and there is a ceiling — a pace at which they could support Hezbollah even more, particularly in the chaos that’s taking place in Syria.” He added, “So can they potentially try to get more assistance there? Yes.”
Breitbart News obtained similar information from Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC), the chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, soon after world powers and Iran reached the nuclear agreement in July 2015.
Pittenger accused the Obama administration of turning a blind eye to the reality that Iran will use the billions of dollars in sanction funds released under the nuclear deal to fund Hezbollah and its other terrorist proxies.
Politico‘s report indicates a newfound interest in the topic, as the outlet appears to have devoted as much time to the threat recently as during Obama’s two terms.
The report did acknowledge recently that Obama has “let Hezbollah off the hook,” citing former administration officials.
Breitbart News has long been highlighting the Hezbollah threat in Latin America, citing the U.S. military, the State Department, American lawmakers, and experts.
Only about three Politico stories mentioned the Hezbollah threat in the Western Hemisphere during the Obama years, without explicitly focusing on it.
Within the last month, the news outlet has intensified its focus on Hezbollah in Latin America in recent months, even praising U.S. President Donald Trump for going after it.
Politico did publish some stories that were critical of the pact, but it was not until recently that it acknowledged the link between the nuclear agreement and Hezbollah’s operations in the Western Hemisphere.
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