US Senator Bob Graham, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said yesterday that Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad have sleeper agents in the United States and pose an immediate danger to America and its citizens. International affairs correspondent Michael Freund reports that in a speech to the Senate, Graham said, "I am concerned by those who see only one evil. I urge my colleagues to open their eyes to the much larger array of lethal, more violent range of foes that are prepared to assault us here at home."
The Senate is in the midst of debating authorization of the use of force against Iraq. Sen. Graham's proposed amendment to extend President Bush's military authority to attack terrorist groups around the world, including Hizbullah and Hamas, was defeated, 88-10.
Graham said that the threats from the above groups posed more of an immediate threat to the United States than Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and he criticized the US intelligence community for holding back such reports and refusing to declassify them. "These organizations... have access to weapons of mass destruction... have killed Americans and... have substantial numbers of operatives inside the United States of America at this hour, " Graham told his colleagues. "Blood is going to be on your hands if action is not taken to prevent the Palestinian groups from launching attacks in America should the United States invade Iraq."
The Senate is in the midst of debating authorization of the use of force against Iraq. Sen. Graham's proposed amendment to extend President Bush's military authority to attack terrorist groups around the world, including Hizbullah and Hamas, was defeated, 88-10.
Graham said that the threats from the above groups posed more of an immediate threat to the United States than Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and he criticized the US intelligence community for holding back such reports and refusing to declassify them. "These organizations... have access to weapons of mass destruction... have killed Americans and... have substantial numbers of operatives inside the United States of America at this hour, " Graham told his colleagues. "Blood is going to be on your hands if action is not taken to prevent the Palestinian groups from launching attacks in America should the United States invade Iraq."