We are all aware of the barbaric acts of ISIS, al Qaeda and the others flying the Black Flag. Sadly their violence continues to kill innocents around the world and here at home. They fight in the cause of Jihad to impose their totalitarian religion on all people. But they are not the only ones working toward that goal. There are other Islamist groups who seem much less dangerous on the surface, but actually represent an even more insidious threat to free western society. They seek to use our very freedoms as weapons against us.
According to the Washington Post report, “some administration officials” suggested that the indictments could pave the way for new sanctions against the Iranian regime. “President Obama last April issued an executive order creating an authority to impose such sanctions specifically for malicious cyber-activity,” the report said. “That authority has not been used yet.”
The reason it was not used is that the President has been bending over backwards for the Iranian regime because of his nuclear deal. The Iranians have been completely abusive towards President Obama in spite of — or perhaps because of — his willingness to give them everything they ask. Most recently, the administration turns out to have paid them $2 billion for the release of American hostages. Iran has announced plans to build a monument to its capture of US sailors, from whom it illegally seized thousands of documents.
Meanwhile, Iran is conducting repeated ballistic missile tests in spite of US arguments that those tests are a violation of the nuclear deal’s terms. The Iranians cite weakened language agreed-to by US Secretary of State John F. Kerry as adequate justification for their tests of nuclear-capable missiles. The Russian government agrees with the Iranians, and is backing them at the UN Security Council. John Kerry defended the weakened language before Congress as more than adequate to prevent such tests.
The hacking is an ongoing threat to American infrastructure and power. Unlike other nations’ hacking efforts, Iran’s are designed not just to steal secrets:
Iran’s cyber terrorism within America has been “less restrained” and “more intent on causing harm” than that carried out by Russia or China. Those powers are intent on espionage, and may want the intrusions to remain undetected as much as anything else. Many times the advantage of successful espionage is lost or mitigated if the intrusion becomes known. Iran’s teams are looking for ways to hurt the United States, not merely to steal our secrets. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has a unit devoted to leading the efforts to hack into American systems and cause mayhem.
Iran has hacked US allies such as Bahrain in the past as well. Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet, which is the naval component for US Central Command.
American politicians are likely to lose sight of the far more dangerous threat to our electrical grid, because the danger of personal political embarrassment scares them more than the danger of millions dead.