HIZBALLAH ARE IRANIAN AGENTS, AND OPERATING HERE

As translated by the indispensable MEMRI, in an interview in the Kuwaiti Daily Al-Siyassa, former Hizballah secretary-general Sheikh Subhi Al-Tufeili admitted that the gang of Lebanese Shi'ite terrorists is an "integral part of Iranian Intelligence":

Question: "You were formerly Hizbullah secretary-general. Is the [situation in Lebanon] within the strategic framework of Hizbullah? Does Hizbullah have an outlined and prepared plan that is being implemented today? Why do you think Hizbullah has become a source of anxiety for the Lebanese? "

Al-Tufeili: "It wasn't like this in the beginning. Hizbullah's activity was limited to resistance [operations]... But, unfortunately, the problem has developed today to the point where they have succeeded in changing Hizbullah from a resistance force into a tool to be used in [whatever] direction they want."

Question: "Does this mean that Hizbullah does not make its own decisions, and that its orders come from outside [Lebanon]?"

Al-Tufeili: "Yes, Hizbullah is a tool, and it is an integral part of the Iranian intelligence apparatus. Unfortunately, all the elements in the [Lebanese] arena have become tools, and take orders from outside [Lebanon]..."

Remember, Hizballah are the terrorists who killed 241 American servicemen and 58 French paratroopers in Beirut in 1983. As the Wikipedia entry reminds us:

This was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima (2,500 in one day) of World War II and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the 243 killed on 31st January 1968 — the first day of the Tet offensive in the Vietnam war. The attack remains the deadliest post-World War II attack on Americans overseas.

Moreover, as the Wikipedia continues:

In May 2003, in a case brought by the families of the 241 servicemen who were killed, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth declared that the Islamic Republic of Iran was responsible for the 1983 attack. Lamberth concluded that Hezbollah was formed under the auspices of the Iranian government, was completely reliant on Iran in 1983, and assisted Iranian Ministry of Information and Security agents in carrying out the operation.^[7] Among the intelligence information initially uncovered by Thomas Fortune Fay, an attorney for the families of the victims, was a National Security Agency (NSA) intercept of a message sent from Iranian intelligence headquarters in Tehran to Hojjat ol-eslam Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, the Iranian ambassador in Damascus. As it was paraphrased by presiding U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth, "The message directed the Iranian ambassador to contact Hussein Musawi, the leader of the terrorist group Islamic Amal, and to instruct him ... 'to take a spectacular action against the United States Marines.'"[3]

The Democrats in the Senate want to make sure that the President is denied his Constitutional authority to respond with force to an act of war from Iran.

Meanwhile, Iran is at war with the United States, and has been at war with the United States for over 20 years.

And their Hizballah agents are hard at work inside our homeland territory:

Michelle Malkin had photographs of Hizballah demonstrators back in July, 2006. And Debbie Schlussel documented Hizballah activities in the heart of America here and here. A Washington Times editorial back in May 2005 concerned "Hezbollah in America," and FOX News presented a documentary on the terrorist group's operations in America just last night. As their summary says:

One of those operations is the subject of “Smokescreen: Hezbollah Inside America,” an exhaustive FOX News report about a Hezbollah cell that was operating for several years in Charlotte, North Carolina. FOX followed the many tentacles of this cell, which extended far beyond Charlotte — to Michigan, to the West Coast, to Canada and to Beirut, Lebanon, where most of the members were from. FOX News spent months tracking this story to all these places and more.

At least one member of the Hezbollah cell first came to the U.S. on forged visa picked up in Venezuela. Others overstayed their tourist or student visas. Once here, they began making millions through a combination of tobacco smuggling, credit card schemes, and arranging phony “green-card” marriages. They even succeeded at obtaining a $1.7 million loan from the Small Business Administration.

Got that? The Iranian founded, backed, and directed terrorist group that blew up the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, the Marine barracks in Beirut, and the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia (all many years before President Bush was even elected Governor of Texas) is actively operating in Michigan, California, and the Carolinas.

And that moron John Conyers wants to do what with the Patriot Act?