Spring Break
United States concerned with smuggling in Mexican trucks
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: World News
On Feb. 15, the group that calls itself the Al Qaida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula threatened Mexico, Canada and Venezuela in an article that appeared in the online magazine the Voice of Jihad.
"Oil interests in all regions from which the United States benefits should be hit, not only in the Middle East," the group wrote, according to news reports.
"The aim is to cut all (U.S.) imports (of oil)," the group wrote, calling on jihadists to "gather information and chose the target carefully." It cited oil wells and export pipelines as potential targets, as well as loading platforms and oil tankers like those that McClatchy accessed.
Mexico exported more than 575 million barrels of oil to the United States last year, averaging 1.57 million per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Some terrorism experts doubt the seriousness of the February threat.
"It hasn't been within their recent modus operandi," said Bruce Hoffman, a professor and security expert at Georgetown University in Washington. "They're opportunistic, but it's impossible to say. They've generally operated where they have some kind of infrastructure. That would be a determining factor."
Another doubter is Peter Chalk, a terror expert for the RAND Corp., a policy organization that works closely with the U.S. military.
"I don't see the jihadist movement interested enough or strategic enough to mount attacks that are designed to cause economic disruption," Chalk said. "They are picking up on our own fears. If they were successful, sure, it would economically hurt us. But they don't have the wherewithal and I don't think they have the motivation."
Some Mexican officials also think that would-be terrorists would be spotted more easily in Mexico because its population is more homogenous than those of the United States and Canada, with their large numbers of ethnic groups.
"I think a foreigner would stand out," said Miguel Angel Del Rio Virgen, the president of a commission of Mexico's Congress that's charged with overseeing the navy.
"Oil interests in all regions from which the United States benefits should be hit, not only in the Middle East," the group wrote, according to news reports.
"The aim is to cut all (U.S.) imports (of oil)," the group wrote, calling on jihadists to "gather information and chose the target carefully." It cited oil wells and export pipelines as potential targets, as well as loading platforms and oil tankers like those that McClatchy accessed.
Mexico exported more than 575 million barrels of oil to the United States last year, averaging 1.57 million per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Some terrorism experts doubt the seriousness of the February threat.
"It hasn't been within their recent modus operandi," said Bruce Hoffman, a professor and security expert at Georgetown University in Washington. "They're opportunistic, but it's impossible to say. They've generally operated where they have some kind of infrastructure. That would be a determining factor."
Another doubter is Peter Chalk, a terror expert for the RAND Corp., a policy organization that works closely with the U.S. military.
"I don't see the jihadist movement interested enough or strategic enough to mount attacks that are designed to cause economic disruption," Chalk said. "They are picking up on our own fears. If they were successful, sure, it would economically hurt us. But they don't have the wherewithal and I don't think they have the motivation."
Some Mexican officials also think that would-be terrorists would be spotted more easily in Mexico because its population is more homogenous than those of the United States and Canada, with their large numbers of ethnic groups.
"I think a foreigner would stand out," said Miguel Angel Del Rio Virgen, the president of a commission of Mexico's Congress that's charged with overseeing the navy.
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