(Newswire.net — October 15, 2019) — I love a good thriller, but I have to admit the one I read this weekend hit a little close to home. Silent Strike is an indy novel about a criminal mastermind pulling the strings on a complex cell from his Chicago-based hotel. It made me wonder how many of America’s enemies may already be plotting attacks on our very own soil.
As a case in point, in September, police arrested a Morristown, NJ, resident suspected of being a member of Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based terror organization with ties to Iran. Alexei Saab, 42, became a naturalized citizen in 2008. He reportedly entered into a sham marriage to pay the bills and worked as a software engineer. He is allegedly a sleeper agent who may have been identifying vulnerable targets in New York City, according to prosecutors.
It’s unclear why it took authorities 11 years to smoke Saab out. Apparently, his arrest is tied to the high-profile Kourani case, which is also linked to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, all this time Saab has been hiding in plain sight.
This summer, Ali Kourani was convicted of crimes related to his role as a sleeper agent in New York City. According to John Demers, the U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Kourani was a Hezbollah operative who was preparing for future attacks. He sought potential Israeli targets and also identified buildings to attack. These included the U.S. Secret Service and FBI offices in Manhattan, as well as John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Reading Silent Strike gave me a new perspective on how insidious these operatives are. Saab was a trusted teacher, co-worker and husband who betrayed everyone he came in contact with. Behind his friendly demeanor, an enemy lurked undetected.
It’s not just the U.S. that faces incursion by Hezbollah forces. In the U.K., a stockpile of deadly chemicals was uncovered in London as far back as 2015, and this summer Iranians seized a British tanker.
“This is the hybrid warfare we now face, cyber and physical, military and civilian, direct and indirect … Iran has already mobilized its sphere of influence in the Middle East—attacks on Saudi targets will come to mind, and now speculation inevitably turns to sponsored terrorist groups operating in the West,” according to a recent Forbes article.
As long as Hezbollah is determined to attack Western enemies from within, none of us should sleep very soundly. Just as the protagonist in Silent Strike saves the day by remaining cautious and vigilant, I feel that it’s my duty to be on heightened alert against these malefactors in disguise. Read the book with open eyes and don’t dull your senses if you come across someone who doesn’t seem to be what they claim to be.