inSCIghts

Are You Ready?

 

January 6th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs
 

There is no doubt that on the city streets of America those with connections to Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and the Mexican drug cartels and America’s law enforcement officers can come face to face with them at any time. Are you ready?

John Dillinger Public Enemy #1

In a recent movie for television, the story of John Dillinger, “Public Enemies” according to then Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover was on the run from the law. FBI Agent Melvin Purvis told Hoover that the men he had were not ready to take on such a violent bunch as the Dillinger gang and if he did not receive men with appropriate training, he would be leading the agents into a “slaughter.”

As I stood this evening at the stall of a firing range and I could see the physical changes in my own skill with my long-standing friend, a Colt 45 ACP, I could not help but wonder of how ready I am to respond now compared to how ready I was thirty years ago when I first worked a beat. Am I still ready to take on the challenge? Any officer who does not ask that of him or herself is not prepared for the reality of an al Qaeda operative exiting a vehicle, firearm drawn when stopped for a traffic violation.

According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, “The growing nexus between Hezbollah and Mexican drug cartels allows the Iran-backed extremist group to make use of drug cartel transit routes to gain entry into the United States through its porous border with Mexico. Hezbollah, in turn, offers Mexican syndicates expertise on smuggling and explosives as well as access to its drug trafficking networks in the Middle East and South Asia.” The IPT goes on to report that, “Although there have been no confirmed cases of Hezbollah moving terrorists across the Mexico border to carry out attacks in the United States, Hezbollah members and supporters have entered the country this way.”

Aayman Joumaa's Drug Trafficking Organization

The man accused of plotting to kill the Saudi Arabia ambassador in Washington D.C. was a Texas used car salesman. Recently in Virginia a Lebanese man was charged with smuggling 100 tons, of Colombian cocaine in connection with the Las Zetas cartel from Mexico. That same man has direct ties to Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy army in Lebanon.
Do you believe that a non-American who can smuggle 200,000 lbs. of Colombian cocaine for the Mexican cartels, the nation of Iran and Hezbollah would have any hesitation at all in shooting a street cop in America? Are you ready?

FBI National Academy Associates magazine Oct 2011

There are many things you can do. Be prepared physically. Only you can do that. Be prepared mentally. Think through the tactics, rehearse the response. Be prepared spiritually. Use your head to know the threat. Use the resources that are available to you. The Homeland Security Network,  the Investigative Project on Terrorism or Law Enforcement Today are all excellent resources.

I have determined to be ready. It may not be some international terrorist. It may be some young kid hopped up on angel dust or drunk out of his mind just out to boost a car who gets scared and decides to go out in some dramatic scene. It may be one of those who has spent prison time because of an arrest I made or someone with a grudge that challenges me. I resolve to stay ready. I trust you will too.