By and large, the Mafia does not want to bring down Western civilization. They LOVE western civilization, in fact, they love it so much they want to enjoy far more of its benefits than they could by earning honest salaries. It's like the difference between predators and parasites. A parasite may weaken its host but does set about trying to kill it.

The link is interesting. The Sadr guy is Hezbollah? Seems more worrisome. Hezbollah is one of the better terror orgs. Unlike Hamas it has semi-global projection, but nothing like AQ's yet. Hez is funded by Iran...does that mean they are Shiites, or just united against common enemy?

Sarge- you missed my point- i wasnt suggestig that the Mafia was trying to bring down our civilization- i agree with you that they thrive on it. I was just inferring that the terrorist groups have organized very similiarly, but for a wholly different agenda. swhitebull- (one of my amanie schemes was that the US should RECRUIT the mafia and other western "mobs" to advise and consult with our anti Terror agencies, since who would know better on how to infiltrate and gain footholds into the dregs of society! It would be a great scam, pretend to work with the terrorists for profit, but out of patriotism to our country and societal values, the mafia would be using the terrorists to penetrate and expose them) Just a fantasy of mine.

Many intel agencies have thoght that Hizbollah is a GREATER threat than al-Aqeda- and has killed more US soldiers and French than alqaeda ever has. They are Shi'ite for the most part, with a rabid hatred of all things western, american and israeli. swhitebull

The American mafia may be patriots, but when you have terrorist organisations with plenty of Saudi money, it isn't unforseeable that a "for profit" relationship on a project by project basis could be entered into between these two sets of deviants. In India, the mafia is communalised and much of it hand in glove with the terrorists and Pakistan's ISI - they do travel widely around the world, and they could well establish links with other mafia organisations globally....birds of a feather.

All I know is, Hezbollah has been able to "get away with it" for years...by avoiding big ticket things to make them look "small" and "not worth it" to the American public. Assassinations, hijackings, bombings...and avoiding the hype that the AQ uses. Hezbollah could easily be bigger then we think. They're so low profile; how much do we know?

You know... I've been operating under the impression that HAMAS, HizbAllah, Islamic Jihad, and al-Qaeda were all pretty much inter-connected to some degree or another (obviously, they all share the same targets) and that all were also connected to the governments of Iran, Syria, Iraq (past-tense), and Libya. I'm also convinced that those groups draw their manpower from all over the Moslem world and share it with each other... BTW: The US based Mafia did great service to the Allied cause in WW2 Italy. HUNT THEM DOWN, CL

I'm not sure I like the Mafia analogy. It's like the old saying "Italy is so corrupt that even the Mafia moved out." Other that that, the article is on point.

***Hez is funded by Iran...does that mean they are Shiites, or just united against common enemy?*** Both. I know that they are Shiites but I don't know if that's the reason the Iranians are sponsoring them. I bet the Iranians would sponsor anyone who is willing to blow up some Israelis, no matter you're Shiite, Sunni, Jew or Christian.