Security Brief: The 'urgent' choking of al Qaeda's money supply

Source: CNN

The U.S. Treasury Department may not have drones, but don’t underestimate the power of the pen in the battle with al Qaeda. Persistent pressure on the group’s sources of money over the past few years has left it “in significant financial distress,” says US Assistant Treasury Secretary David Cohen. “And we are urgently working to make it worse.”

. . .

Cohen’s job includes choking off the money supply to an array of terror groups. To that end, he spends plenty of time trying to persuade other governments – especially in the Gulf – to tighten their financial controls. Cohen is pleased with the contribution that Saudi Arabia – once the largest source of funds for al Qaeda – has made. For example, the Saudi central bank now has to approve transactions between accounts of more than $15,000. But senior Treasury officials say other Gulf states – such as Kuwait and Qatar – could do more to help.

“We haven’t seen the same level of co-operation there,” the official says.

. . .

Cohen says the process encourages other governments to take similar action, and points to successful co-operation with Saudi Arabia in closing down the al Haramain Foundation last year, which was alleged to be funneling money to terror groups.

There’s certainly evidence that al Qaeda is hurting financially.

Last year, one of its commanders in Afghanistan spoke in an audio message of a lack of weapons and food. European recruits who have been detained in the last two years have complained that they had to pay for weapons and been pressed for donations when in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. CNN Terrorism consultant Paul Cruickshank says court documents showed European recruits claiming they had to pay their Arab trainers more than $500 a head, and double that for equipment and weapons, for a two-week paramilitary course with insurgents.



Read more: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/12/security-brief-the-urgent-choking-of-al-qaedas-money-supply/?hpt=Sbin

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Always the single most effective technique to undermine a terrorist organization is to dry up its source of funding.

First, end the drug war. Oh, that won't do much to the Taliban, but it will dry up funding for bad guys worldwide, including the drug kings in Afghanistan.

Second, start raising taxes on gas to reflect what it's really costing us to clean up after it and fight wars over it. There is nothing to spur a switch to biodiesel (we'll be growing hemp after the end of the stupid drug war, remember) and other alternatives including fuel cells for power generation like making us pay oil's true cost up front. Raise those taxes slowly enough to allow the technology to develop and go into production.

With fewer petrodollars flooding into countries like Saudi Arabia, there will be far fewer dollars being put into bin Laden's coffers.

Anyone who is serious about ending world terrorism needs to think about how it is funded, and these are the two main sources: oil and black market drugs.

We don't help you if we find out the flow of terrorist money comes through you.

You said...



Nope. The single most effective technique to undermine a terrorist organization is to STOP PISSING PEOPLE OFF!

Only pissed off people join terrorist organizations. Sorry to state the obvious.

billions of pissed off people, hence why it is tried to be explained.



You know, this really makes me think.

There are people that say to me I should not piss them off sometimes, and I really don't try to do that, but sometimes I agree it happens.


But I have to say, they should be pissed at, since many times they have been messing things up and pissing on people for years.


So if they get pissed off, it is just rules applied back based on years of what they do.


So if the global terrorist of the elite that wants control through claims of superiority get pissed off. Why does that matter if the reason they get pissed is not what is said about them, but the effect of their actions.

The only reason it would matter is if some person thought they had some effect or control, and they don't they sold that long ago.


Probably posting this since I am a little pissed off, join the club.