Todd Bensman

From Journalism to Counterterrorism Intelligence - and Back.

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Guatemala’s Terrorist Designation of Hizballah Explained

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The seemingly incongruous designations are more connected with a broader U.S. strategic initiative to pressure Hizballah’s South America revenue lifelines as the group and its primary sponsor, Iran, reel under harsh U.S. economic sanctions. Hizballah reportedly was facing financial pain because of American sanctions. by Todd Bensman as published December 4, 2020 by the Investigative Project on … [Read more...] about Guatemala’s Terrorist Designation of Hizballah Explained

Massive Stanford Ponzi Scheme Decimates Mexico City’s Jews

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 *Recognized as Best Business Story of 2010, Houston Press Club By Todd Bensman as originally published by GlobalPost News in July 2009 SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Over the past 15 years, Kadima, a Jewish charity in Mexico City, has helped developmentally disabled Jews live to their fullest potential. The charity, which has 250 beneficiaries, offers day care for adults with Down Syndrome, and … [Read more...] about Massive Stanford Ponzi Scheme Decimates Mexico City’s Jews

A Dystopian “Biden Effect:” Now in the Offing on Illegal Immigration

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A Biden Effect would look like a sustained migrant crisis in which hundreds of thousands of Central Americans and others from around the world, who have by now fully absorbed Biden campaign promises,  would storm through Mexico once again in vast human caravans. By Todd Bensman as originally published by the Center for Immigration Studies A few months after President Donald Trump’s 2016 … [Read more...] about A Dystopian “Biden Effect:” Now in the Offing on Illegal Immigration

NOW AVAILABLE: “America’s Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation’s Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration”

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The book by journalist Todd Bensman, AMERICA’S COVERT BORDER WAR, is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and, as they say: wherever books are sold. This 13-year work of journalism explores one of the most politically powerful and nationally contentious threat notions to ever have arisen about the American southern border: that Islamic jihadists might steal over it through Mexico … [Read more...] about NOW AVAILABLE: “America’s Covert Border War: The Untold Story of the Nation’s Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration”

Idea to Label ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization Neither “Crazy” Nor “Illegal”

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Former President Barack Obama already designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization, in 2016. So President Trump, assuming he knows this, is likely thinking of the much more punitive Foreign Terrorist Organization designation. By Todd Bensman President Donald Tump’s May 31 Tweeted intention to designate “Antifa” as a terrorist organization is neither “crazy” nor … [Read more...] about Idea to Label ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization Neither “Crazy” Nor “Illegal”

8-Part Series: CIS Investigates Terror Travel Threat in Panama and Costa Rica

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LINK TO THE SERIES HERE President Donald Trump's claims that Middle Eastern migrants were traveling Central American routes to the U.S. border, among them some Islamic terrorists, spawned a confused national debate that never quite moved past disputes over just the basic facts. Such as: Can, have, and do migrants from countries of terrorism concern, where Islamic terrorist groups operate, … [Read more...] about 8-Part Series: CIS Investigates Terror Travel Threat in Panama and Costa Rica

Gunrunning to Mexico Part III: Buyers remorseless

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How “straw purchasers” in the U.S. find a big bang for their buck for Mexico’s drug thugs Crucial to the flow of guns into Mexico are networks of straw buyers — U.S. citizens with clean criminal backgrounds bankrolled by the cartels to shop for guns. Two kinds stalk South Texas: ordinary people with perhaps only a sneaking suspicion about who’s ultimately paying them; and those much more … [Read more...] about Gunrunning to Mexico Part III: Buyers remorseless

Gunrunning to Mexico Part II: The sellers: merchants torn between profit and conscience

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How flexible laws, a blissful ignorance and profit motive enable U.S. gun retailers to feed Mexico’s bloody civil war International gun trafficking prosecutions against licensed gun dealers are relatively rare. The law provides more protection to sellers than to any other part of the supply chain delivering weapons to Mexico’s drug cartel foot soldiers. Much of the current U.S. law … [Read more...] about Gunrunning to Mexico Part II: The sellers: merchants torn between profit and conscience