Defense Technology International - December 2007 - (Page 16)

DISPATCHES GLOBAL FOLLOW THE MONEY T enue streams funded by crime. “The Sunnis complain of extortion—that AQI is running protection rackets, seizing property and assets, engaging in criminality. [Al Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden chastised them for this in his latest video,” Cruickshank notes. “How do you tackle that? It’s very difﬁcult. The thing to do is to remove AQI’s U.S. targets elusive cadre control over portions of Iraq,” asserts that funds insurgents in Iraq Cruickshank. But that puts the cart before the horse. Instead of counting on ﬁnancial attacks to facilitate combat opDAVID AXE•WASHINGTON erations against insurgents, combat ophe U.S. military in Iraq is target- Syria and Egypt and then sent the mon- erations must precede ﬁnancial attacks. It’s a reversal that makes sense to ing local ﬁnanciers in an e ort ey to insurgents. The arrests are the tip of a counter- some commanders in Iraq. “More imto stymie the cash flow that sustains the insurgency. On the other finance operation whose back end is portant than money is sanctuary from side of the world, an international ef- represented by the U.S. Treasury Dept.’s the local population. That’s what we’ve fort is tracking down donors to terrorist O ce of Terrorism and Financial Intel- taken away from [AQI],” says Col. Migroups. In response, the enemy is sim- ligence, which was launched in 2004 chael Garrett of the 4th Brigade, 25th plifying and diversifying its ﬁnances to in part to identify and shutter Islamic Infantry Div. On the other side of the insurgent war, make them tougher to ﬁnd. It’s all part of “charities” funneling donations to Al Qaa complex and subtle drama that usually eda. The o ce’s mission has expanded Shiite groups are probably funded by loto include other extremist groups, in- cal donations and by Iran, and supplied plays out behind the scenes. by courier when necessary. But Rachel Without money, insurgents can’t feed, cluding some in Iraq. The Treasury has been fairly success- Ehrenfeld, a terrorism expert at the New clothe or arm themselves. Take out the local ﬁnancial fronts or tie up funds at ful in shutting down the electronic bank York-based American Center for Democracy, says it’s possible that the source, the theory goes, U.S. reconstruction monies and you defeat the insurhave wound up in militia cofgency. In reality, terrorists fers courtesy of sympathetic and their backers are surIraqi o cials. prisingly resilient to counSome experts discount ter-ﬁnance campaigns. the role of money in susExperts estimate that Al taining the Iraq insurgency. Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)—one “I’m not sure the ﬁnancing of many Sunni insurgent angle is right,” says David groups—has an annual Nordell, an economic terbudget of up to $100 million. rorism consultant. “I think Shiite militias with ties to this is more a question of Iran and Lebanon probably ‘terrorism resourcing,’ as I see similar turnover. Exhave heard it described by actly what this money buys one Canadian government is hard to say. But compoanalyst. And in this case, the nents for explosively formed U.S. troops escort a suspected ﬁnancier of insurgents Shiite insurgents, at least, penetrators reportedly cost into detention in Baghdad in 2004. are receiving resources in around $10,000; rockets and small arms fetch up to several hundred transfers terrorists use to move money the form of arms, explosives, training dollars apiece. Terrorists sometimes around the world, notes Paul Cruick- and so forth from the Qods force of the pay impoverished Iraqis to ﬁre rocket- shank of New York University’s Center [Iranian] Revolutionary Guards across propelled grenades at coalition troops on Law and Security. So the insurgents the border.” In other words, you don’t need cash ($50) and to plant roadside bombs (up stopped using them. “Now they use traditional systems to get money around,” to buy weapons if they are supplied to to $1,000). “Financiers are a huge part of the Cruickshank says, including couriers you. The same applies to food, lodging, insurgency,” says Col. Jon Lehr, com- who smuggle currency over the border. transportation and other needs, all of For large sums, ﬁnanciers might em- which might be donated by or extorted mander of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Div., deployed north of Baghdad. In ploy Hawala, a 1,000-year-old system for from a local populace. Nor is pay necessarily an issue for dedOctober, Lehr’s troops nabbed a man transferring funds by way of informal he describes as “a signiﬁcant ﬁnancier.” promissory notes. “Money might go to a icated terrorists. “There’s a strong ideoThe arrest reportedly contributed to guy in Jordan who promises a guy up the logical component [to the insurgency],” a 50% decline in bomb attacks on U.S. line, who promises another guy up the says Cruickshank. “If you cut money o , line. The cash is shifted from one person you’re still going to have ﬁghters.” I troops in the area. Another arrest that month was of an to another,” says Cruickshank. “It’s difIraqi man who coalition o cials say re- ﬁcult to shut those networks down.” Read Axe’s posts on DTI’s weblog, Ares, updated daily: AviationWeek.com/ares Even tougher to block are local revceived $100 million from donors in Italy, DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL DECEMBER 2007 U.S. ARMY 16 www.aviationweek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com/ares http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - December 2007

Defense Technology International - December 2007 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch BrahMos: Ramjet Ship Killer r-e-s-p-e-c-t Deja Vu Trump Card Dubai Demos Agile Helos Joint Force Online Charge UGVs Creep, Crawl to Victory Sweet Ride Fast, Lethal Ship Defense Networking Stealth: Why Raptors Can't Talk The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - December 2007

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