The porous U.S. southwestern border has already helped al-Qaida gain access to the country and the Islamic State and others are not far behind, according to Middle East expert Walid Phares.
"We have evidence that al-Qaida has tried to smuggle in people and also Hezbollah,” Phares said on
Newsmax TV’s "America’s Forum."
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The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is so rife with cash — it has reportedly stolen $500 million from Iraqi banks — that it will be able to buy its way into the United States.
"When you have that much cash and you have that much power in the Middle East then you can buy influence south of the border and this is what counts,” Phares said, noting that gangs and drug cartels respond to money, making the possibility of ISIS jihadists making their way inside the United States.
"The jihadists or terrorists will use what's happening now, the destabilization of the border, to move in and to have those who are already on national soil go and help them to blend into the population,” he said.
Phares also said the current fighting taking place between the Israelis and the Palestinians is actually the handiwork of the Iranians, to distract the world while Iran seizes part of Iraq from Baghdad to Basra.