Funding, Where Terrorist Organizations get their Money

     When a business or organization is trying to be put together, usually fundraising or funding has to occur in order for a business or organization to operate. A terrorist group is a form of an organization; meaning funding has to occur in order for a terrorist group to be able to operate. So the question to ask is how are terrorist organizations receiving funding ? White (2009) reveals three different ways terrorist groups receive funding; illegal sources, networking, and charities. (p. 59). It is known that gaining funding through illegal sources is not uncommon among terrorist organizations. Kaplan (2006) reveals that illicit drug trade is a major source of income for many terrorist organizations. For example, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is known to have been long involved in cocaine trade in order to help finance FARC’s operations. The income coming from the cocaine trade is allowing FARC to able to have funding to not only operate as an organization, but also to have access to equipment that will help carry out FARC’s operations. Gupta and Perez (2002) discuss how illegal drugs are marketable almost everywhere allowing for easy access to anyone looking for drug sells. Meaning, illicit drug trade is seen to be the most reliable source of income in the world, where a constant demand for drugs is beginning to increase (Gupta and Perez, 2002). This is an easy way for terrorist groups to able to obtain a large amount of funding. Drugs are always on a constant high of demand, meaning that drug production is constantly continuing to grow. The more the people want drugs, the more the drug dealer needs to produce these drugs in order to make sells. This is why many terrorist groups will tend to go towards illicit drug sells because it is an easy way to gain funding. Not only are illegal sources a form of funding for terrorist groups, but charities are also another form of funding terrorist groups receive..

Charities, aka donations, are another largest source of income for terrorist organizations to receive funding. Unlike illicit drug sells, charities are a legal way for terrorist groups to receive funding. Kaplan (2006) discuss that one of the pillars of Islam, zakat, describes how Islam people should give a proportion of their wealth to charity. A perfect example of this would be the Jihad. In frontline’s video, Al Qaeda’s New Front, describe the Jihad receiving charity of weapons, money, and clothing because the people felt that the Jihad were fighting for right cause (frontlie.com). The Jihad were committing terrorist attacks because the Jihad felt the policies being made in the Middle East were going against the Muslim religion. The people could see this as being a proper argument for fighting back. Fighting for Islam is Jihad’s way of promoting their radical cause when receiving charity from its people. White (2009) states that many of the people who donate to these terrorist organizations believe the efforts they are supporting are not terrorist operations (p. 62).  This is why many terrorist organizations receive charities as a means of funding. Many of the people of the Middle East truly believe that terrorist groups are fighting for its people as well as fighting for the Muslim religion. This can be seen as protecting Middle Eastern countries from other countries trying to reform the Muslim people and this is seen as an attack not only the people, but Muslim religion.

The Hawala system is another type of funding terrorist organizations receive. First, what is the Hawala system? The Hawala System is a system of exchanging money based on trust relationships between money and dealers (White, 2009, p. 62). The Hawala System allows for money to be transferred without using any type of money or moving funds from one country to another (p. 62).  This allows for networking to occur among legitimate business and terrorist organizations, where a trust relationship begins to evolve. Kaplan (2006) discusses that many terrorist organizations attempt to operate “legitimate businesses”, which allows for profits to be generated between a business and a terrorist group. So what is this advantage of the Hawala System? The Hawala system allows for no record of money being moved, no tax records exist, and it based on trust where a special relationship between the businesses and terrorist organizations is formed.. The Hawala system allows terrorist organizations to be capable of becoming involved with the businesses that fund them. For example, Bin Laden operated a string of retail honey shops through out the Middle East where Bin Laden was able to generate revenue through money and weapons being concealed in the honey containers (Kaplan, 2006). Bin Laden was able to get involved with a business that allowed for weapons and money being concealed in honey containers, representing the special relationships between terrorist organization and a legitimate business.

In order for a terrorist organization to able to operate properly, funding needs to occur. Meaning, terrorist organizations can receive funding through illegal sources, through networking, or through charities. Because of these options, this allows terrorists group to able to carry out its operations.

References:

Frontline (2005). Al Qaeda’s New Front. Retrieved on April 26, 2011 from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/.

Gupta, R. and Perez, M. R. (2002). Funding Terrorism: Sources and Methods.

Retrieved on April 27, 2011 from http://library.lanl.gov/cgi

bin/getdoc?event=CT2002&document=30.

Kaplan, E. (2006). Tracking Down Terrorist Financing. Retrieved on April 28, 2011

from http://www.cfr.org/international-crime/tracking-down-terrorist

financing/p10356

White, J. R. (2009). Terrorism and Homeland Security. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Cengage Learning.

Force Multipliers, Tactics, Terrorism. All Lead to a Destructive Outcome.

            The key point of terrorism is to use a force multiplier to advance a terrorist attack to be more damaging than just a typical attack. First, what is a force multiplier? A force multiplier is a method that allows an increase of striking power without increasing the number of combats troops in military (White 2009, p. 98).  Meaning, that terrorist are trying to find a tactic that will cause catastrophic damage without losing members of their organization. This allows terrorists to use a specific force multiplier to enhance their choice of tactic . Either terrorists use technology enhancement of weapons, or transnational support, or media coverage, or religious fanaticism that will allow for an increase in striking power (White 2009, p. 98). Force multipliers allow terrorists to be capable of increasing striking power for a specific tactic of terrorism. Meaning, adding more striking power to an attack leads to a more destructive outcome, which is a typical for terrorism.  Some might argue that why do terrorists need these four types of methods just for one tactic, bombing. But what some might not realize is terrorists do not have just one tactic, but have multiple tactics to carry out an attack.

            Bombing is a well-known tactic of terrorism because the media constantly shows coverage of an attack that has to deal with a bomb.  Yes, bombing is one of the tactics of terrorism, but terrorist also use hijacking, arson, assault, kidnapping, and hostage taking  (White 2009, p. 98). Terrorist would use hostage taking for the means of taking over a building to cause a massacre. Terrorist would use assault as sending a message to the people that this organization is serious when it states that they will take violent measures in order to send a message. Tactics are allowing terrorists to be able to send a message through violent means. For example, suicide bombing is considered to be a means of propaganda for terrorism (White, 2009). Terrorists are known to seek media attention for the reason of advertising their organization to the world. This is why you see a majority of terrorists attack having to do with a bomb. Bombs are destructive, cause catastrophic damage, and instill fear within the people, all goals of terrorism.

            A majority of terrorist attacks deal with some type of a bomb, but why a bomb? Well if you think about it, bombs are extremely destructive. The more you increase the striking power the more destructive the attack will become. This is a goal for many terrorists. The more destructive the attack, the more successful the terrorists organization will become. Terrorist groups are seeking media attention and in order to gain attention, bombs are used as a tactic to get media coverage. Many people generally fear bombs and when a terrorist uses a bomb, their goal is to instill fear in the people. For example, hijackers first used a bomb in order to take over the planes on September 11^th (White 2009, p. 99). This allows for the terrorists to gain control because it has instilled fear in the people on the planes. The event of September 11, 2001 had attracted attention of the world to the threat that was imposed by terrorists, whom were determined to die for reaching their targets (Azam 2005, p. 175). These terrorists use technology to enhance the striking power of their attack. The terrorist used the tactic of bombing in order to gain control over the planes and then took those planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center.

            Terrorists will continue to increase the striking power of their attacks as long as technology continues to enhancement dramatically. For example, terrorists will use technology to help find other ways to make bombs more destructive. The more destructive the bomb, the more the striking power will increase. Terrorist use technology to enhance their striking force in order for their organization to gain attention. For example, On March 11, 2001, a bomb went off in Madrid where it killed 191 people and injured 1,800 people. The bomb went off during morning rush hours on a bus where bombs were found in backpacks and were detonated using a mobile phone (Clarke, 2005). Technology has enhanced to the point where terrorists have found means of using a cellular device to detonate a bomb from a distance. As technology continues to enhance in the future, terrorists will find more creative ways in order to increase the striking force of any tactic of terrorism. If nothing is done to stop this, then terrorist groups will continue to find means of causing more destructive attacks through force multipliers.

References:

Azam, J. (2005). Suicide-bombing as inter-generation investment. Public Choice, 122(2).

Retrieved from

http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.csus.edu/pqdweb?RQT=305&SQ=issn%280048%2D

829%29%20and%20%28ti%28Suicide%2Dbombing%20as%20inter%2Dgenerational%

0investment%29%20or%20%28startpage%28177%29%20and%20volume%28122%29

20and%20issue%281%29%29%29%20and%20pdn%28%3E01%2F01%2F2005%20A

D%20%3C12%2F31%2F2005%29&clientId=17934

Clarke, S. (2005). Major terrorist attacks since 9/11. Retrieved on April 13, 2011, from

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jul/07/terrorism.uk1

White, J. (2009). Terrorism and Homeland Security. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage    Learning.

Al Qaeda, A Scattered and Powerful Terrorist Organization.

            Every since 9/11, terrorism has not only become more scattered through out the world, but has gained more power. What does it mean when we say, “terrorism has become more scattered?” There word scattered is referencing to terrorism becoming more spread out across the world , which is leading terrorism to gain more power and control. In Frontline’s video, “Al Qaeda’s New Front”, the film discusses how a scattered and diffused Al Qaeda terrorist network has become more dangerous due to terrorism becoming more scattered over the years. That is because there have been no direct connections, which makes it difficult to detect and trace a certain terrorist group to a certain terrorist attack. How does this happen? Once a direct network has been established the source of supplies and instructions, will become easier to trace them out to other cells and detect and destroy them (Frontline.com). But what is a cell? A cell is the basic unit of traditional terrorist organizations. Groups of cells form columns and members in cells seldom known one another (White, 2009). This is how terrorism is becoming more scattered and more powerful for this reason. These cells are scattered all over the world where people from the same group do not know one another. This is allowing Al Qaeda to become more scattered and lead to increase in gaining power.

            The new Al Qaeda networks do not look like the traditional cell, but it has become more in the form of looking like webs. In the frontline video, on man was interviewed in the film that described the networks as a mutating system that looks like a virus. They are sleeper cells where no one gives orders and they operate on their own program. Thus tracing supplies, instructions, money, or other support is virtually impossible to trace. Even if you are able to locate and destroy a cell or capture its leaders, others spouts replace it (Frontline.com). This is how Al Qaeda and terrorism is becoming more scattered and more powerful at the same time. Technology continues to advance leading terrorist groups like Al Qaeda to find other means to use the web to hide behind. If it is difficult to already trace supplies, instructions, money or other support, it is only going to become more difficult. This will allow Al Qaeda to continue to be more scattered as well as becoming more powerful.

            Al Qaeda is a terrorist group known not to be a small terrorist organization, but a large terrorist group known through out the world where numerous groups are being formed.. Al Qaeda has groups in Algeria (Armed Islamic Group), the Philippines (Abu Sayyagf Group), Southeast Asia, Kashmir (Jemaah Islamiya), Iraq (Tawhid wal Jihad), Yemen(Islamic Army of Aden), and Egypt (Jihad). Having not only just one, but also multiple terrorist groups that share Al Qaeda’s view is causing Al Qaeda to become scattered and gaining power (www.cfrg.org/terrrosit-organizations). If Al Qaeda has multiple groups scattered through out the world then it will continue to be hard to trace which group is responsible for which terrorist attack. Thus allowing Al Qaeda to gain power by having multiple resources used from different organizations, which will make it difficult to trace the attack to a certain group

            The purpose of terrorist attacks is to instill fear and to send out a message. Al Qaeda is known for their enormous and destructive terrorist attacks.. September 11, 2001 is a terrorist attack that is known through out the world. On this tragic day hijackers commandered four different commercial jet lines where two of them crashed into the World Trade Centers and another into the Pentagon where approximately 3,000 people died, (www.npr.org). This is a message that is revealing to the world that Al Qaeda is a powerful terrorist group that can cause enormous destructive attacks. September 11^th is a perfect example of how powerful a terrorist group Al Qaeda is. Al Qaeda is also known for the Madrid bombing that had occurred in March of 2004 where nearly 200 people died and 1,800 people were injured (www.cfr.org).Evidence found from the Madrid bombing was also connected to the substances found in the London incident where telephone communication was connected to a known terrorist in Paris.. Thus revealing how scattered Al Qaeda is becoming. Al Qaeda continues to send message through destructive ways that is instilling fear and intimidation through out the world. This is how Al Qaeda is becoming powerful. Not only does Al Qaeda have numerous terrorist organizations scattered all over the world, but it is becoming hard to trace attacks to Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda is gaining more media coverage due to their terrorist attacks... Terrorists seek media attention to make their group known and if a group is getting multiple media coverage than that group is gaining power. This shows that terrorism will continue to become more scattered and more powerful until something is done to stop terrorism.

References:

Bruno, G (2009). Al-Qaeda. Retrieved on 18, March, 2011 from

http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations/al-qaeda-k-al-qaida-al-qaida/p9126.

Frontline: Al Qaeda's New Front (2005). Retrieved on February 6, 2011

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/?utm_campaign=vie

page&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid.

Glendinning, M. (2005). Timeline: Al Qaeda Attacks on Western Targets. Retrieved on

18, March, 2001 from

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4733944.

White, J. (2009). Terrorism and Homeland Security (6^th ed). Belmont, CA; Wadsworth

Cengage Learning.

Terrorism, A Costly Issue.

Terrorism is known to be a costly problem through out the world. Many associate terrorism with terrorist attacks and that is why terrorism is so costly. Not only are destructive terrorist attacks costly, so are the policies going towards terrorism, and the war of terrorism is also costly. This is why, as a whole, terrorism is considered to be a problem known to expensive. When 9/11 occurred, this horrific attack cost 95 billion dollars (theatlantic.com). To terrorists this is considered to be a successful attack. Along with 9/11, the Madrid bombing and the London bombing is considered to be a successful attack to terrorists because these two other incidents were known to be costly. These incidents are causing major loss of money for either the businesses or costing the countries money to rebuild these structures. When it comes to terrorism, the damage to building structures is extremely costly, but the attacks are not the only reason why terrorism is considered to cost so much.

The holding of terrorists might seem to many people as a movement forward to stopping terrorism, but there is always a cost for holding anyone in a cell. According to BBC news, it costs 120 euros a day to hold a terrorist under a holding center. Since the year of 2006 to present, the cost to hold terrorists as reached 11 million euros. (BBC News). There is more to terrorism than just terrorist attacks. The holding and questioning of terrorists is a costly matter. It’s costing, worldwide and the United States, millions of dollars to help fight terrorism. I mean, 120 euros a day is more than holding an inmate in a prison cell. This is part of terrorism that is causing the cost to continue to rise. Not only is holding terrorists costly, but so are programs or actions that are going towards fighting terrorism. It is estimated that it cost 500 billion dollars annually to fund the fight for terrorism (about.com). This not a cost that is over a period of time, but this is how much it costs yearly and will continue to cost yearly if fighting terror continues.

The war on terrorism is another costly issue.. Money is spent on deploying troops, supplying weapons, supplying food, and so much more. Not only are innocent lives being lost, but also the money being spent continues to increase. It has been estimated that 802 billion dollars is being spent in Iraq, 455 billion dollars is being spent on Afghanistan, 29 billion dollars for enhanced security, and 6 billions dollar is being spent on unallocated DOD (Department of Defense) (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf). This adds up to a total of 1.3 trillion dollars being spent on the war of terrorism. This is not a inexpensive fight, but an extremely costly situation. So much money is being spent to continue to fight terrorism. The war of terrorism to some people is seen as solution to stop terrorism from occurring, but it is more than that. It is a solution that is continuing to cost the United States billions to trillions of dollars. This number is not going to decrease, but will continue to rise until a solution is found to stop the war of terrorism.

Terrorism is a term that is well known world wide and well known to be an extremely costly problem. People associate terrorism as being costly because of the damage terrorists attacks cause, but that is not the case.. The war on terror is costing the United States 1.3 trillion dollars as well as 11 million dollars being spent to hold terrorists under control. This dollar amount is going to continue to rise if terrorism continues to occur. Innocent lives and the money being spent on terrorism will continue to increase unless something is done to stop terrorism or solution is found to stop the war on terror.

References:

Zalman, A. Economic Impact of Terrorism. Retrieved on 22, February, 2011 from

http://terrorism.about.com/od/issuestrends/a/EconomicImpact.htm

Unknown author (2009). Tories attack control-order cost. Retrieved on 23,

February, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8363653.stm

Indiviglio, D. (2009). The Economic Cost of Terrorism. Retrieved on 23, February,

2011 from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/12/the-economic-cost-of-terrorism/32650/.

Belasco, A. (2010). The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror

Operations Since 9/11. Retrieved on 23, February, 2011 from

www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf.

Terrorism is a World Wide Issue.

Terrorism is a term that is not unknown, but a term that is well known through out the world. Ever since 9/11 has happened, Terrorists attacks have increased dramatically. Why is terrorism considered to be problem? Terrorism is a problem because it causing deaths of innocent people to increase, instills fear within the people in targeted countries, increase of terrorits attacks, and is a costly issue. Terrorism is not a minor problem that can be solved with just one solution, terrorism is an issue that is more complicated and harder to find a solution for it to come to an end. It is an issue that is well known not only in America, but also in third world countries.  Some third world countries are run by terrorism causing its people to live in fear; fear of not knowing if they are going to live or die. Terrorism is problem that is bigger than words can describe. Terrorist attacks and deaths of victims of terrorism has and continues to increase. For example, in the near eastern region, FBI statistics reveal there were 5,528 deaths and 4,594 terrorist attacks according to the 2008 statistics gathered (fbi.gov/stats). This is an example how immense of an issue terrorism is because more innocent lives are being taken as well as terrorist attacks increasing. Terrorism does not just effect one type of region, but all regions world wide.

Terrorism does not have a specific country that is a target, but every country is in danger of being victims of terrorist attacks. Terrorism is an issue that is a problem for everyone through out the world. Terrorism is not just stationed in just one country, but has become scattered. Since terrorism is becoming more scattered, the power of terrorism has been increasing. An example of this would be Al Qaeda. In Frontline's video, Al Qaeda's new front, is a perfect example of how terrorism has become powerful. Al Qaeda has become very involved in terrorist attacks occurring through out eastern Europe, such as the Madrid bombing. The Madrid bombing is an example of how scattered and powerful terrorism has become over the years. The Madrid bombing found evidence of cellular connection within known terrorists in Paris and London. This cellular evidence is an example of terrorism, especially Al Qaeda, is not just in Iraq, but others countries such a France and Britain etc. It is even known that Al Qaeda was also involved in the bombing that occurred in London because fertilizer that was used were tied to the ones found in Madrid (Frontline video). Ever since 9/11, terrorism has become more scattered and has being increasingly gaining power over the years.

If nothing is done  to solve the issue of terrorism, more issues involved are going to arise. Innocent lives will continue to be taken by terrorist attacks, terrorist attacks will continue to rise, terrorism will continue to scatter world wide, and the cost of terrorism isn't going to decline, but increase. Terrorism is a costly problem that every country has to deal with. For example, 9/11 is known terrorist attack through out the world. The World Trade Center building collapsed leading to not only the death of many people, but lead to a costly tab. Daniel Indiviglio, from The Altanic, discusses the economic cost of terrorism. Indiviglio states that, "The cost are obvious from a successful terrorist attack." 9/11 in American's eyes is a tragic event that occurred, but to terrorist 9/11 is considered to be a successful attack due to the damaged that was caused. The Madrid bombing as well as the incident in London is considered to be successful attacks due how much damage was done. That is what Indiviglio means when a costly attack is considered to be successful attack. A costly attack in terrorists eyes is a success and to the victims it is a tragedy. The damage that was done by 9/11 was 95 billion dollars (theatlantic.com). This is a perfect example to show how costly terrorism and terrorist attacks can be. It is something that is going to continue to rise cost wise if nothing is done. If nothing else is done, the death fatalities will continue to rise as well. This is why terrorism needs attention nation wide.

Terrorism is an issue that needs great attention. If attention from every region does not aim towards terrorism, issues will continue to rise. In order to devote our attention to terrorism, terrorism needs to be fought through rule of law. If rule of law is used, it could possibly decrease terrorism in domestic and international countries. Choi (2010) did a study demonstrating how rule of law can help reduce terrorism. Choi discovered that in domestic and international countries terrorism increases due to political and religious reasons (pg 956). For example, if any policy that is made by the US and or Eastern Europe, this is seen by the Muslims as an attack on the religion. This can possibly lead Muslims to act out through terrorist attacks. Choi results from the study showed that rule of law does reduce domestic and international terrorist attacks. Choi argued that a democratic rule of law system will offer ordinary citizens a nonviolent way of settling an issue, so there will be a likelihood of terrorist attacks as being the last resort (pg 957). If rule of law is capable of reducing terrorism, than this should have our attention nation wide. Terrorism needs our attention, world wide, because of the catastrophic damage it is causing. If nothing is done, then damage will continue to arise and more lives will be lost. Terrorism is not only a known term, but is a immense problem world wide that needs to be dealt with.

References:

Choi, S. (2010). Fighting Terrorism through the Rule of Law? 

   Journal of Conflict Resolution, 54(6), 940-966.

Indiviglio, D. (2009, December 28). The Economic Cost of Terrorism. Retrieved on February 9, 2011 

   from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/12/the-economic-cost-of-terrorism/32650/.

National Counterterrorism Center (2008). Retrieved on February 9, 2011 

   from http://www.fbi.gov/stats-  services/publications/terror_08.pdf

Frontline: Al Qaeda's New Front (2005). Retrieved on February 6, 2011    from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid