BS/ALERT!!!- “Mexico is only one part, though probably the most important one, of a theater of operations that stretches from the Venezuelan-Cuban-Iranian alliance and the Andean Ridge, through Columbia and the FARC, up the cartel-controlled drug routes through Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico, and into the United States,” http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/25/a_word_of_advice_now_that_the_media_is_hot_to_trot_on_mexico_s_drug_violence  writes Col. Bob Killebrew of the influential Center for a New American Security , on the Foreign Policy blog of former Washington Post reporter Tom Ricks. “The Venezuelan alliance is almost a classic geopolitical attempt to deny the US access to Latin America — probably including Mexico — and to gain access to our southern border.” 

comment-some backround on Robert Killebrew – Robert B Killebrew  Study Member (security strategies), Project for a New American Century http://www.nssg.gov/About_Us/People/Study_Group_Staff/Robert_Killebrew/robert_killebrew.htm  heres an interesting discussion at the national journal on national security concerning this venezuela-iran alliance but from a little more then half a year ago...see...Opposition To Or Engagement With Latin American Leftists? http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/07/opposition-to-or-engagement-wi.php#1342637

1st comment highlight-  Chavez and Iran have formed an alliance that is potentially harmful to the US-- and spare me the "axis of evil" distractions. Hezbollah -- which acts as an overseas arm of Iranian foreign policy -- is in South America, and has entered through Venezuela. Chavez is actively promoting, through his contacts with Iran, with his oil money and through other means (like supporting the FARC) an agenda that is harmful to our interests.

I agree with General McCaffery that we need constructive policies down there, but those constructive policies have to be developed with an appreciation of our national interests, not freighted down with '80s guilt any more than they should be by the neo-imperialism of earlier times.Chavez may eventually collapse of his own weight, but in the meantime he and his pals have to be taken seriously; at a minimum, we should aid other countries in the region whose democracies are in danger of being subverted.

2nd comment highlight- http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/07/opposition-to-or-engagement-wi.php#1342577  I personally always thought Chavez was just a clownish dictator who was going to eventually crash; I think we need to look again at what he's accomplishing in the region. Iran may eventually collapse internally -- recent events continue to be hopeful. But if in its travails it decides to be more externally aggressive, we should look to Venezuela to be a conduit. Finally, Chavez & Co -- including Iran, Hezbollah and AQ -- are involved in the Latin American transnational crime stew that is causing such turmoil at our borders and inside the United States.

There is a crossover point at which Venezuela's support for the FARC, the criminal gangs like MS-13, and the Mexican Cartels all make common cause, though indirect, against the governments of Latin American states and the U.S. Honduras is about to be attacked along this line. My friends who are real Latin experts tell me the young, all-male pro-Zelaya mobs in Honduran, for example, are rented by Chavez.

this is from his 3rd comment- http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/07/opposition-to-or-engagement-wi.php#1342151  I was the commander of JTF-B there in the early '90s, and the Honduran Army and Air Force -- at least at that time, but I doubt that it's changed much -- was shot through with West Pointers and graduates of our various service schools. Their emerging democratic government was awash with Ivy-League graduates and English-speaking democrats who looked to the U.S. as their patrons (ISS - Key leaders of Honduras military coup trained in U.S http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/06/key-leaders-of-honduras-military-coup-trained-in-us.html  )

While maintaining the "stern uncle" attitude with reference to the ouster of Zelaya, the U.S. has got to also make it clear that we will tolerate no outside interference in Honduran affairs, and back it up with aid and support. Much more is at stake here than just Zelaya's fate or the survival of the interim government of Honduras. (Washington behind the Honduras coup: Here is the evidence http://links.org.au/node/1147 )

this is from another one of the colonels posts-Good advice Hybrid warfare demands an indirect approach BY COL. ROBERT KILLEBREW (RET http://security.nationaljournal.com/2009/07/opposition-to-or-engagement-wi.php#1342395  5. The number of students from foreign military forces attending U.S. military schools — about 7,500 — is far too small and should be increased. The departments of Defense and State should make serious cooperative efforts to recruit as many allied officers as possible, and to work with Congress to reduce the cost to host countries to send their promising officers to U.S. schools. 

The wisest course would be to eliminate entirely the cost to host countries and shift the expense to the defense budget; although the cost may be significant to a small, struggling country, it is peanuts to us. No program is so likely to return investment over the long term as having allied officers with U.S. experience and U.S. friends in our armed forces. Adding more foreign officers to U.S. military schools likewise will bring U.S. officers into contact with allied officers, leading in some cases to lasting friendships that can pay strategic dividends at crucial times.

here is some backround on Col. Bob Killebrew's  influential ''Center for a New American Security'' http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_a_New_American_Security   Involvement in the Obama transition team"When President-elect Barack Obama released a roster of his transition advisers last week, many of the national-security appointments came from the ranks of the center," reported the Wall Street Journal in November 2008. CNAS co-founder Michele Flournoy "is one of two top members of Mr. Obama's defense transition team and is likely to be offered a high-ranking position at the Pentagon. ...

Wendy Sherman, co-head of the Obama State Department transition team, also serves on the center's board of advisers and is expected to land a high-ranking post [in the new Administration]. Richard Danzig, a front-runner for defense secretary, is on the think tank's board of directors. Susan Rice and James Steinberg, both of whom are on Mr. Obama's short list for national security adviser, serve on its board of advisers." [3]

Board of Directors The Honorable Dr. William J. Perry, Chairman of the Board, Professor and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford University The Honorable Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, Principal, The Albright Group LLC The Honorable Richard L. Armitage, President, Armitage International Norman R. Augustine, Former Chairman, Executive Committee, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Admiral Dennis C. Blair, USN (Ret.), Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Command The Honorable Dr. Richard J. Danzig, Sam Nunn Prize Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies The Honorable William J. Lynn, Senior Vice President, Government Operations & Strategy, Raytheon Company Lt Gen Gregory S. Newbold, USMC (Ret.), Managing Director, Torch Hill Capital John D. Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress

also see...Obama Dips Into Think Tank for Talent http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122688537606232319.html

The center's budget comes mainly from foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and it also gets some government money to study particular issues."The success of Brookings begat AEI. The success of AEI begat Heritage. And the success of Heritage begat CAP and CNAS," said Murray Weidenbaum, an economics professor at Washington University in St. Louis who wrote a book on Washington think tanks.