Jeff Sessions is right on drugs — this time
When it comes to federal drug policy, there’s little mystery in the Trump administration’s approach under Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
On marijuana, his about-face on the Obama Justice Department’s lenient approach speaks volumes about his objectives — and the hard limits they’re likely to encounter in a country that continues to move toward decriminalization.
But there’s one place where Sessions’ crusade against drugs is perfectly placed. Reports have revealed that the Obama administration, eager to smooth the way toward a nuclear deal with Iran, put the damper on a sweeping investigation into Hezbollah’s profitable drug trade. The DEA probe, known as Project Cassandra, appeared to have hit a wall when Treasury and Justice Department officials refused to play ball.
Naturally, former Obama administration officials have hurriedly denied that they or the former president himself were ever “soft” on Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress have demanded an investigation of their own, asking the DOJ to furnish documents and records pertaining to the potential scandal.
As a matter of politics, the unexpected imbroglio opened a tremendous window of opportunity for Sessions, who hasn’t always found himself in Trump’s good graces. But as a matter of policy, it was incumbent upon him to get to the bottom of the Cassandra question — and to take immediate steps to counter Hezbollah plans dredged up by the DEA.
Wisely, Sessions did exactly that. The Justice Department, he has now announced, “will ensure that all Project Cassandra investigations … are given the needed resources and attention to come to their proper resolution.”
The super group, composed of DOJ agents in coordination with officials at the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, aims to “initiate prosecutions that will restrict the flow of money to foreign terrorist organizations as well as disrupt violent international drug trafficking operations.”
At a time when the temptation may feel strong to go all in against the Iranian mullahs and their proxies, especially as domestic unrest in Iran itself complicates its military success with Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria, America’s Iran policy remains delicate and unsettled. Putting the crosshairs on Hezbollah’s illicit finance operations is an ideal way to strike back at our adversaries without risking a freshly disadvantageous crisis in the Mideast.
Further, it would simply be inexcusable to allow Hezbollah, the world’s best-established, strongest-backed, and most dangerous terrorist organization, to continue to muscle up as the world turns — especially by cementing a position as a preeminent global trafficker in hard drugs.
Put it all together, and for Jeff Sessions, the man, the mission and the moment have met.