The Long War Journal: Financing Terror
Written by on December 4, 2004 12:02 PM to The Long War Journal
Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2004/12/financing_terro_1.php
This post was written by guest blogger Justin.
The Taliban had Opium; Al Qaeda bought gold and diamonds and sold short airline stocks prior to September 11th; Saddam had Oil for Food/Bribes/Suicide Bombers; and Arafat used hatred for the Jews and the Islamic "charities" to amass billions. There may be some debate over whether the Middle East will accept democracy, but there is little doubt that these leaders embrace Western Capitalism--at least when it comes to enriching themselves and funding their terror.
The Taliban, Afghanistan, and Opium
Afghanistan's economy depends on two things-War and Opium. According to Forbes Magazine:
Afghanistan is so poor that the World Bank doesn't even estimate its gross domestic product. Its people earn so little that an army of 15,000 soldiers can be maintained for just $35,000 a month, according to a source close to the Afghan military....
The CIA World Fact Book estimates the Afghan gross domestic product at $21 billion as of 1999.This figure means that the country, with a population of 25.8 million, has a GDP per capita of $800. America's GDP per capita is $33,900.
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What wealth exists is mostly from agriculture and mining. The country had gained substantial revenue from its role as the world's leading producer of opium poppies and as the center of the world heroin trade, says Stephen Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The Bin Laden regime and the Taliban have no problem profitting from the Opium trade despite the fact that their version of Islam prohibits the use of drugs and alcohol. In Fallujah, people were routinely shot for selling CD's or alcohol, but it is OK for the leaders of the Islamofacists to make a quick buck or two to kill infidels by selling "smack". Afghanistan's new government has attempted to crack down on opium production to the extent possible, but most of the warlords maintain their armies and their control through the drug trade. The Taliban often turned a blind eye towards the drug trade because they did not want to alienate the warlords. President Karzai has little control over the opium producing regions and many believe that we can either fight Bin Laden or the drug war, but certainly not both.
Moving the Profits Back
Hollywood loves to portray Italian Mobsters or Columbian Drug Cartels laundering their money. How do you move hundreds of millions of dollars without a large paper trail? Pakistan's Hundi financial system provides some of the answers. This network of underground currency exchanges is used by millions to move funds through Pakistan.
The possibility that al-Qa'eda and other terrorist groups have moved money through the hundi network is "more than remote," says Money Laundering Alert, a Miami-based newsletter.Scores of Pashtun-run money changing shops line the streets in Peshawar, Quetta and other cities along Pakistan's Afghan frontier, where bin Laden's organization has moved freely over the years. Hawala there are suspected of being a cash conduit for arms and electronics smugglers, as well as for the drug trade that made Afghanistan a source of 70% of the world's heroin. Tracing any money that changed hands between bin Laden and terrorists could be impossible.
Through an extensive network of underground currency dealers, Al Qaeda has been able to transfer their ill-gotten funds back to pay terrorists recruits and the Jihadies in Afghanistan and throughout the world. Al Qaeda has several different methods for funneling the money into their network's hands, but prefers gold and diamonds that they purchase from Sierra Leone through Liberia.
The Patriot Act and other legislation, as well as world cooperation has put a dent in Osama's finances. But Al Qaeda still has numerous assets and the financial capabilities to maintain their armies of fanatics and to fund terror worldwide.
Saddam--Oil for Martyrs
The facts about the finances of Saddam are just being discovered in more detail, but the money trails lead directly from oil for food to suicide bombers through the Bank of Jordan. Saddam diverted money from OFF into his illegal weapons programs and into the hands of islamic terrorists.
Fortunately, the Taliban and Al Qaeda only had heroin and opium, not oil money like Saddam to finance their terror operations. Although the funds from oil rich countries flow into the coffers of Arafat and Al Qaeda through the so called "Islamic Charities" that go to after-school educational programs that teach occupational skills like suicide bombing and martyrdom, the Taliban and OBL had much less to work with than Saddam did. If only the Arab world had PBS shows on Al Jazeera like "Sewing with Nancy" to teach young girls how to make a form fitting burka with dynamite.
Capitalism Thrives in the Middle East
It appears that Capitalism is thriving in the Middle East. The leaders understand economics and market forces. They understand diversifying their portfolios. It is Ironic that Bin Laden's crusade against the Saudi Royal Family revolves around their blood money taken from the Americans during the first Gulf War and his belief that the West is destroying traditional Islam. Yet he readily sells heroin and takes his own blood money from murderers and thugs world wide.
Looking at the fine examples of the Islamofacists and their methods for maintaining their elaborate networks of military and fanatical killers, it appears that they are simply businessmen that have discovered that terror can be almost as profitable as the oil business in the Middle East. From the accounts of the 19 hijackers spending their last night before 9-11 in strip clubs, to Bin Laden selling heroin, to the capitalist practices and embracing of market economics by Bin Laden, Arafat, and Saddam to get rich, it appears that the leadership of the Middle East wants everyone else subject to Tyranny and oppressive Islamic law, except for themselves.