"A More Serious Threat than the al-Quaeda Network" (BM)

The Wall Street Journal reports today the Bush administration is stepping up its efforts against the Lebanese based terrorist group Hezbollah:

The Bush administration is intensifying efforts to cut off funding to Hezbollah, the Shiite organization the U.S. believes is Iran's principal vehicle for conducting terrorist attacks globally.

The moves come as counterterrorism officials grow concerned that if the standoff between Washington and Tehran over Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program heightens tension between the two sides, that could fuel terrorist strikes against Western targets in Iraq and Afghanistan and other nations where American forces are active.

Many U.S. intelligence officials say they believe Hezbollah could pose a more serious threat than the al Qaeda terrorist network, because of its structured military command and decades of experience.

Hezbollah, which means "Party of God," is a militia and sociopolitical party based in Lebanon with a global following and infrastructure that could allow it to conduct operations in Europe, Latin America and even the U.S., counterterrorism experts say. They note that Tehran has used Hezbollah as a proxy in its conflict with the U.S., as evidenced by the group's attacks against American and Israeli targets in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Argentina over the past three decades.

Washington's focus on Hezbollah "is at a pretty high level now," says Kevin Brock, the deputy director of the U.S. government's National Counterterrorism Center. "There are active investigations" going on against the Islamist organization's global activities, he said.

The rest is here (subscription required).

One element of the strategy discussed briefly in the article is limiting funding to Hezbollah's media properties, including al-Manar television and al-Manar radio.  FDD's Coalition Against Terrorist Media has prevented nearly $2 million worth of advertising on al-Manar, worked closely with administration officials to have al-Manar and al-Nour designated as terrorist organizations, and has been instrumental in removing al-Manar from eight satellites around the world.  More here.