Iran and Venezuela, sitting in a tree.....

Iraq Better, Pakistan Worse, Iran the Most Active Terror Sponsor, Report Says
Friday, May 01, 2009
By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor

(CNSNews.com) - Along with a drop in terror attacks worldwide – significantly so in the case of Iraq – 2008 saw a dramatic rise in attacks in Pakistan and deterioration in Afghanistan, while Iran continued to facilitate terror. India was among countries hardest hit, and the situation in Yemen and Venezuela remained worrisome, according to a new State Department report.

Al-Qaeda and related networks, while losing ground, continued to pose “the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners in 2008,” the annual report on terrorism said.

Overall, the number of terror attacks recorded around the world declined during 2008 by 20 percent, with 30 percent fewer fatalities, Russell Travers of the National Counterterrorism Center told a press briefing on the report’s release Thursday.

As it has for well over a decade, Iran continues to top the list of state sponsors of terrorism, where it has been since 1984.

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“Iran has long employed terrorism to advance its key national security and foreign policy interests, which include regime survival, regional dominance, opposition to Arab-Israeli peace, and countering western influence, particularly in the Middle East,” the report said.

It cited Tehran’s support for the Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah in Lebanon, militant Shia groups in Iraq, and select Taliban members in Afghanistan. Iran’s main tool for cultivating and sponsoring terrorism abroad, it said, was the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force.

The Qods Force’s involvement in Iraq included the provision of “lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to Iraqi militant groups that targeted coalition and Iraqi forces and killed innocent Iraqi civilians.”

Among other things, Iran supplied insurgents with especially lethal improvised explosive devices (IEDs), designed to overcome armored vehicle protection. The Qods Force, along with Hezbollah in Lebanon, also provided weapons training inside and outside Iraq for insurgents, the report said.

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Pakistan brought less promising news, however. Travers reported 1,839 incidents, which killed 2,293 people in Pakistan in 2008, a jump from 890 incidents in 2007 that cost 1,340 lives.

Pakistan was both a major target of terrorism last year and a terrorist safe haven. The report said al-Qaeda and allies had moved into “the remote areas of the Pakistani frontier, where they have used this terrain as a safe haven to hide, train terrorists, communicate with the followers, plot attacks and send fighters to support the insurgency in Afghanistan.”

The report said the Pakistan government’s authority in the areas near the border with Afghanistan continued to be challenged.

It identified the Taliban umbrella group, Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), active in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, as “the most public signal of broad local militant coordination aimed at attacking Pakistani security forces.”

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Another government identified as uncooperative in counter-terror efforts was that of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The report noted Chavez’ “ideological sympathy” for Colombia’s FARC rebels and said his government had not systematically policed its border with Colombia to prevent the movement of armed terrorists or to interdict weapons or narcotics.

It also highlighted concerns about Hezbollah activity in Venezuela, noting the U.S. Treasury Department’s designation in June of a Venezuelan diplomat and a travel agency owner as Venezuelan Hezbollah supporters.

The report said passengers on weekly flights connecting Caracas with Tehran and Damascus “were reportedly subject to only cursory immigration and customs controls” on arrival in Venezuela.

“Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making Venezuela a potentially attractive way station for terrorists.”

In May 2008, Venezuela was re-certified as a country “not cooperating fully” with American antiterrorism efforts under U.S. arms export legislation


On the topic of Venezuela,

Does any of that come to the mind of Obama's administration? Apparently not, according to Hillary Clinton,

"We buy a lot of their oil,"
"Let's see if we can begin to turn that relationship."

After witnessing Obama's obviously entertaining (to them) powwow, Venezuela's escalating domestic repression, harboring of Hezbollah and building relationship with Iran, was not a deal breaker either.

And now, Iran and Venezuela have brokered a deal to make Venezuela even more dangerous:

Iran Stresses Aid to Venezuelan Army

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Thursday underlined Tehran's all-out efforts to help Venezuela promote its defense capabilities and bolster its power of deterrence through bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on military cooperation.

Speaking in a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during his three-day visit to Caracas, Najjar presented a report on the process of defense cooperation between the two countries.

He also conveyed the best regards of the Iranian nation and government to the president and people of Venezuela.

Chavez, for his part, referred to the goals and ideals of the Bolivarian Revolution, and said, "The Bolivarian and the Islamic Revolutions have a lot in common and these commonalities have consolidated the two countries' bonds."

Stressing that Iran has a special place in Venezuela's foreign policy, Chavez referred to the two countries' armies, and underlined that armed forces of the two countries should be reinforced in a bid to help strengthen sustainable security.

The Iranian defense minister, heading a high-ranking military delegation, arrived in Caracas on Monday to promote ties between Iran and Venezuela.

Guess Obama will file that one away too.