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Authors: Gary Grossman
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not. He was smuggled into the United States in 2001, caught and pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani was not a hard-working itinerant Mexican. Kourani was an Iraqi national; a man on the FBI’s terrorist watch list; an Al Qaeda operative. He had been in Mexico. In Sabinas Hidalgo, just southwest of San Antonio. I believe your wife came from there, Mr. President.” Taylor had done his homework. “She still has family in town. Think about whether your nieces and nephews are safe?
“In the time since we arrested Kourani, we have learned a great deal, Mr. President. There are more active Al Qaeda cells in Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security gave this information to your intelligence officers eighteen months ago. You’ve made no arrests, Mr. President. Not one. Not in a year and a half.
“Here is what is happening. Arab nationals with known terrorist Al Qaeda connections set up shop in your country. They change their Islamic surnames to Hispanic sounding names, obtain false identification, learn to speak Spanish, and then pass themselves off as determined immigrants. They are not migrant workers simply trying to better their lives.” Sarcasm slipped in. Taylor delivered it quite deliberately. “Oh, and they come here, too, on Aeromexico flights under false passports, claiming to be college professors looking for jobs. We have a dead one in a Houston morgue right now.”
Taylor heard muffled chatter on the phone as President Hernandez and Secretary Cabrera conferred. Up until now there had been nothing new to Taylor’s rant. But this new information was dramatic.
“Mr. President, may I….”
“I’m not finished yet. Believe me, you’ll want to hear me out.”
Taylor and General Johnson noted a frustration on the other end of the phone.
“At least three gangs are known to be assisting these sleeper spies,” Taylor continued. “And yes, they are sleeper spies, Mr. President. I assure you they have not come to Texas to take in the Superman ride at Six Flags.” More sarcasm. “They have thrived in El Salvador, Paraguay, and Brazil, but they also flourish in the Mexican state of Chiapas, along your border with Guatemala. It seems you have a problem to the south as well as the north.
“There, the Maras run their smuggling operations, which includes people, drugs, and weapons.” Taylor wanted to bring Hernandez personally into the conversation, but he resisted. “They travel north on a cargo train, which departs every week out of Tapachula.” More homework now. “Your father’s hometown, Mr. President.
“Now to my most important point. Both our nations signed a “Declaration of Security in the Americas” at a Special Conference on Security of the Organization of the American States. That was in 2003 before either of us took office. But our predecessors considered it an important agreement. As I’m sure you recall, it recognized that the hemisphere faces more than traditional threats. We are confronted with global terror, which requires a multidimensional response.”
“Mr. President!” Hernandez tried to cut in.
“That response?” Morgan Taylor continued; his voice more resolute. “You and I both know the answer. I recently helped forge a new security doctrine in Southeast Asia. You have seen the results. We strike at terrorist strongholds, weapons supplies, and training camps, just as President Obama did in taking down bin Laden. But even we have been lax when dealing with the Republic of Mexico.”
Morgan Taylor drew a long breath. “President Hernandez, that is about to change.”
Five minutes. That’s the time it took to dress down the leader of Mexico. The country was currently one of America’s greatest problems and certainly its closest.
“Mr. President,” Hernandez managed, “you can accept that there is more than one hundred twenty-five years of standing good will at risk. So grant me the privilege of a rebuttal. You do a disservice to our
“In the time since we arrested Kourani, we have learned a great deal, Mr. President. There are more active Al Qaeda cells in Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security gave this information to your intelligence officers eighteen months ago. You’ve made no arrests, Mr. President. Not one. Not in a year and a half.
“Here is what is happening. Arab nationals with known terrorist Al Qaeda connections set up shop in your country. They change their Islamic surnames to Hispanic sounding names, obtain false identification, learn to speak Spanish, and then pass themselves off as determined immigrants. They are not migrant workers simply trying to better their lives.” Sarcasm slipped in. Taylor delivered it quite deliberately. “Oh, and they come here, too, on Aeromexico flights under false passports, claiming to be college professors looking for jobs. We have a dead one in a Houston morgue right now.”
Taylor heard muffled chatter on the phone as President Hernandez and Secretary Cabrera conferred. Up until now there had been nothing new to Taylor’s rant. But this new information was dramatic.
“Mr. President, may I….”
“I’m not finished yet. Believe me, you’ll want to hear me out.”
Taylor and General Johnson noted a frustration on the other end of the phone.
“At least three gangs are known to be assisting these sleeper spies,” Taylor continued. “And yes, they are sleeper spies, Mr. President. I assure you they have not come to Texas to take in the Superman ride at Six Flags.” More sarcasm. “They have thrived in El Salvador, Paraguay, and Brazil, but they also flourish in the Mexican state of Chiapas, along your border with Guatemala. It seems you have a problem to the south as well as the north.
“There, the Maras run their smuggling operations, which includes people, drugs, and weapons.” Taylor wanted to bring Hernandez personally into the conversation, but he resisted. “They travel north on a cargo train, which departs every week out of Tapachula.” More homework now. “Your father’s hometown, Mr. President.
“Now to my most important point. Both our nations signed a “Declaration of Security in the Americas” at a Special Conference on Security of the Organization of the American States. That was in 2003 before either of us took office. But our predecessors considered it an important agreement. As I’m sure you recall, it recognized that the hemisphere faces more than traditional threats. We are confronted with global terror, which requires a multidimensional response.”
“Mr. President!” Hernandez tried to cut in.
“That response?” Morgan Taylor continued; his voice more resolute. “You and I both know the answer. I recently helped forge a new security doctrine in Southeast Asia. You have seen the results. We strike at terrorist strongholds, weapons supplies, and training camps, just as President Obama did in taking down bin Laden. But even we have been lax when dealing with the Republic of Mexico.”
Morgan Taylor drew a long breath. “President Hernandez, that is about to change.”
Five minutes. That’s the time it took to dress down the leader of Mexico. The country was currently one of America’s greatest problems and certainly its closest.
“Mr. President,” Hernandez managed, “you can accept that there is more than one hundred twenty-five years of standing good will at risk. So grant me the privilege of a rebuttal. You do a disservice to our
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