05-04-2004, 06:46
10 Things You Don't Know About Terrorism
Loretta Napoleoni is a true journalist, someone willing to uncover
shocking facts that the powerful fatcats would rather keep secret.
That's dangerous. Be sure to tell others to read this remarkable
article.
by Loretta Napoleoni
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a
$500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is
struggling to cover war costs. Terrorism seems to be a very costly
business. So how can terrorists afford it? The answer is simple:
terrorism is their business.
1. Terrorism has always been a business
During the Cold War terrorism was the trade of the superpowers. They
fought wars by proxy across the world by funding local armed groups
with legal or covert operations (for example the Contras in Central
America). In the late 1970s-early 1980s, some of these groups managed
to privatize terrorism. To raise money, they used a mixture of legal
and illegal activities -- the IRA had the monopoly of private
transport in Belfast; the PLO got a cut out of the Hashish trade from
the Bekaa Valley; Carlos the Jackal and Aby Nidal became 'guns for
hire' for Arab leaders such as Gaddafi.
2. Globalization boosted terrorism
In the 1990s, as international economic and financial barriers were
lowered, terror groups expanded their businesses, which become
transnational. Today, money is raised cross border, as proved by the
joint business empires of Yousef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, two of bin
Laden's associates. According to the UN, their portfolios, which
range from real estate to fisheries, sprawl across Europe and Africa,
and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
3. Each time an American reads a newspaper or takes a sip at a soft
drink, they contribute to Osama bin Laden's financial empire
Terror businesses could not stay out of the largest consumer market
in the world, the US. In the mid 1990s, while residing in Sudan,
Osama bin Laden acquired 70% of Gum Arabic Company Ltd, which
produces about 80% of the world supply of gum arabic. Extracted from
the sap of the acacia trees that grow in Sudan, gum arabic is used to
make ink stick to newspapers, to prevent sediment forming in soft
drinks and to create a protective shell around sweets and pills to
keep them fresh. The US is the largest importer in the world. Bin
Laden's investment proved to be a very sound one. In November 1997,
when Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Sudan, a number of
American importers including the Newspaper Association of America,
and the National Soft Drinks Association of America, objected.
Eventually, Gum Arabic was exempted.
4. The Terror Economy is Bigger than the GDP of the United Kingdom
Globalization also facilitated the merging of terror enterprises with
criminal and illegal activities. This meant big business. Today their
joint yearly turnover is a staggering $1.5 trillion dollars, higher
than the GDP of the United Kingdom.
5. The terror economy props up western capitalism
The bulk of the $1.5 trillion flows into Western economies and gets
money laundered in the US and Europe. This is a vital infusion of
cash into these economies. If we were to cut it overnight, the West
would be plunged into a recession.
6. The illegal/terror economy grows faster than the US economy
Up to now, terror business has been conducted in dollars, primarily
in 100 dollars bills; so are arms and drugs smuggling and other
criminal and illegal activity. Thus, a rough indication of the rate
of growth of the terror economy is given by the yearly infusion of
new stock of US dollars. In the year 2000, as much as two third of
the US money supply, equivalent to $500 billion, was taken out of the
US monetary system for good and is now held abroad. This figure
refers to money taken abroad in suitcases or via offshore accounts.
If these statistics are correct, then the rate of monetary growth of
the terror/illegal economy is higher than that of the US economy.
7. 9/11 was one of the greatest insider-trading events in modern
history
Terrorists are also very skilled speculators. During the week before
9/11, an unusually high volume of trading was reported in certain
sectors, e.g. air transport, energy and insurance. Shares of American
Airlines and United, the US airlines involved in the 9/11 attack,
were targeted. A similar trend was reported in the insurance
business, with leading companies becoming the object of exceptional
and unexpected speculation on the futures market. The weekend
following the attack, Ernst Welteke, president of the German
Bundesbank, admitted that there had been insider trading
by 'terrorists' and added that the commodities markets had also been
targeted. Indeed, days before the attack, oil and gold experienced a
sudden and inexplicable rise in price. This was followed by a surge
in activity on the futures market. On 12 September, oil prices jumped
by more than 13 per cent and gold prices went up by over 3 per cent.
Prices continued to climb all week. Anybody who knew what was going
to happen on 11 September could have predicted such a trend.
8. Profiteering on Terrorism
Terrorism is such a good business that even the US government tried
to get a stake in it. Last summer, the Pentagon was forced to abandon
a 20 months project, Future PAM, to launch an online futures market
that allowed speculators to bet on assassinations, coups and acts of
terrorism. The project was headed by a leading expert on state
sponsored terrorism, retired vice admiral John Poindexter, formerly
national security adviser under President Reagan. In the1990s,
Poindexter was convicted on five felony counts, including lying to
Congress, destroying documents and obstructing congressional
inquiries into the Iran-Contra scandal. Several US senators strongly
opposed the project on the ground that terrorists would be the
biggest beneficiaries as they are the ones who carry out the attacks.
9. Terrorism is such a good business that nobody really wants to
eradicate it
So far, international efforts to curb terror financing have failed.
An insignificant $140 million of terror money have been frozen since
9/11, 70% coming from accounts held in the West. Business profits
generated by Al Qaeda front companies and donations from the Muslim
world are mostly untouched. For example, Haramain Charitable
Foundation, a Saudi charity worth $30 million per year, is still
active in several countries. Recently Haramain has opened a new
Islamic school in Jakarta, a hot bed of Islamist terror in South East
Asia. Twice the Saudis have agreed to shut this charity, which is
headed by Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh, Saudi minister for
Islamic affairs, but never did it. So far the Saudis have frozen $4.7
million of terror money, closed 6 of the 241 Saudi charities and
prohibit the collection of coins at the entrance of shopping malls.
Not a lot when compared with UN reports stating that prior to 9/11,
as much as 20% of Saudi GDP went to fund Al Qaeda alone.
10. Twice the US passed on the opportunity to get hold of Osama bin
Laden
Is terror such good business as to prevent the arrest of bin Laden?
In 1996, the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Major General Elfatih
Erwa, offered to extradite Osama bin Laden, then resident in Sudan,
to the US. American officials declined the offer. Instead, they told
General Erwa to ask bin Laden to leave the country. 'Just don't let
him go to Somalia,' they added. In 1993, 18 US soldiers had been
brutally killed in Somalia in street riots involving Al Qaeda
supporters and the US feared that bin Laden's presence in the country
would create further unrest. When Erwa disclosed that bin Laden was
going to Afghanistan, the American answer was 'let him go'. A few
weeks after 9/11 the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties
negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latter's
extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for 9/11. Once again the US
refused the offer.
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror' it is apparent that the
winners are the terrorists -- while Al Qaeda's finances are still
intact the US is running the highest budget deficit in history. What
can be done? Start by treating terrorism for what it is: a global
business; force our Muslim allies to act immediately to curb terror
funding and concentrate our efforts to hunt terror money in our
countries, even if that implies putting under investigation the
strongholds of Western capitalism: Wall Street, the City of London
and the thousand offshore centres linked to them.
--------------------
http://www.progress.org/2004/napo03.htm
Loretta Napoleoni is a true journalist, someone willing to uncover
shocking facts that the powerful fatcats would rather keep secret.
That's dangerous. Be sure to tell others to read this remarkable
article.
by Loretta Napoleoni
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a
$500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is
struggling to cover war costs. Terrorism seems to be a very costly
business. So how can terrorists afford it? The answer is simple:
terrorism is their business.
1. Terrorism has always been a business
During the Cold War terrorism was the trade of the superpowers. They
fought wars by proxy across the world by funding local armed groups
with legal or covert operations (for example the Contras in Central
America). In the late 1970s-early 1980s, some of these groups managed
to privatize terrorism. To raise money, they used a mixture of legal
and illegal activities -- the IRA had the monopoly of private
transport in Belfast; the PLO got a cut out of the Hashish trade from
the Bekaa Valley; Carlos the Jackal and Aby Nidal became 'guns for
hire' for Arab leaders such as Gaddafi.
2. Globalization boosted terrorism
In the 1990s, as international economic and financial barriers were
lowered, terror groups expanded their businesses, which become
transnational. Today, money is raised cross border, as proved by the
joint business empires of Yousef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, two of bin
Laden's associates. According to the UN, their portfolios, which
range from real estate to fisheries, sprawl across Europe and Africa,
and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
3. Each time an American reads a newspaper or takes a sip at a soft
drink, they contribute to Osama bin Laden's financial empire
Terror businesses could not stay out of the largest consumer market
in the world, the US. In the mid 1990s, while residing in Sudan,
Osama bin Laden acquired 70% of Gum Arabic Company Ltd, which
produces about 80% of the world supply of gum arabic. Extracted from
the sap of the acacia trees that grow in Sudan, gum arabic is used to
make ink stick to newspapers, to prevent sediment forming in soft
drinks and to create a protective shell around sweets and pills to
keep them fresh. The US is the largest importer in the world. Bin
Laden's investment proved to be a very sound one. In November 1997,
when Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Sudan, a number of
American importers including the Newspaper Association of America,
and the National Soft Drinks Association of America, objected.
Eventually, Gum Arabic was exempted.
4. The Terror Economy is Bigger than the GDP of the United Kingdom
Globalization also facilitated the merging of terror enterprises with
criminal and illegal activities. This meant big business. Today their
joint yearly turnover is a staggering $1.5 trillion dollars, higher
than the GDP of the United Kingdom.
5. The terror economy props up western capitalism
The bulk of the $1.5 trillion flows into Western economies and gets
money laundered in the US and Europe. This is a vital infusion of
cash into these economies. If we were to cut it overnight, the West
would be plunged into a recession.
6. The illegal/terror economy grows faster than the US economy
Up to now, terror business has been conducted in dollars, primarily
in 100 dollars bills; so are arms and drugs smuggling and other
criminal and illegal activity. Thus, a rough indication of the rate
of growth of the terror economy is given by the yearly infusion of
new stock of US dollars. In the year 2000, as much as two third of
the US money supply, equivalent to $500 billion, was taken out of the
US monetary system for good and is now held abroad. This figure
refers to money taken abroad in suitcases or via offshore accounts.
If these statistics are correct, then the rate of monetary growth of
the terror/illegal economy is higher than that of the US economy.
7. 9/11 was one of the greatest insider-trading events in modern
history
Terrorists are also very skilled speculators. During the week before
9/11, an unusually high volume of trading was reported in certain
sectors, e.g. air transport, energy and insurance. Shares of American
Airlines and United, the US airlines involved in the 9/11 attack,
were targeted. A similar trend was reported in the insurance
business, with leading companies becoming the object of exceptional
and unexpected speculation on the futures market. The weekend
following the attack, Ernst Welteke, president of the German
Bundesbank, admitted that there had been insider trading
by 'terrorists' and added that the commodities markets had also been
targeted. Indeed, days before the attack, oil and gold experienced a
sudden and inexplicable rise in price. This was followed by a surge
in activity on the futures market. On 12 September, oil prices jumped
by more than 13 per cent and gold prices went up by over 3 per cent.
Prices continued to climb all week. Anybody who knew what was going
to happen on 11 September could have predicted such a trend.
8. Profiteering on Terrorism
Terrorism is such a good business that even the US government tried
to get a stake in it. Last summer, the Pentagon was forced to abandon
a 20 months project, Future PAM, to launch an online futures market
that allowed speculators to bet on assassinations, coups and acts of
terrorism. The project was headed by a leading expert on state
sponsored terrorism, retired vice admiral John Poindexter, formerly
national security adviser under President Reagan. In the1990s,
Poindexter was convicted on five felony counts, including lying to
Congress, destroying documents and obstructing congressional
inquiries into the Iran-Contra scandal. Several US senators strongly
opposed the project on the ground that terrorists would be the
biggest beneficiaries as they are the ones who carry out the attacks.
9. Terrorism is such a good business that nobody really wants to
eradicate it
So far, international efforts to curb terror financing have failed.
An insignificant $140 million of terror money have been frozen since
9/11, 70% coming from accounts held in the West. Business profits
generated by Al Qaeda front companies and donations from the Muslim
world are mostly untouched. For example, Haramain Charitable
Foundation, a Saudi charity worth $30 million per year, is still
active in several countries. Recently Haramain has opened a new
Islamic school in Jakarta, a hot bed of Islamist terror in South East
Asia. Twice the Saudis have agreed to shut this charity, which is
headed by Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz al-Ashaikh, Saudi minister for
Islamic affairs, but never did it. So far the Saudis have frozen $4.7
million of terror money, closed 6 of the 241 Saudi charities and
prohibit the collection of coins at the entrance of shopping malls.
Not a lot when compared with UN reports stating that prior to 9/11,
as much as 20% of Saudi GDP went to fund Al Qaeda alone.
10. Twice the US passed on the opportunity to get hold of Osama bin
Laden
Is terror such good business as to prevent the arrest of bin Laden?
In 1996, the Sudanese Minister of Defence, Major General Elfatih
Erwa, offered to extradite Osama bin Laden, then resident in Sudan,
to the US. American officials declined the offer. Instead, they told
General Erwa to ask bin Laden to leave the country. 'Just don't let
him go to Somalia,' they added. In 1993, 18 US soldiers had been
brutally killed in Somalia in street riots involving Al Qaeda
supporters and the US feared that bin Laden's presence in the country
would create further unrest. When Erwa disclosed that bin Laden was
going to Afghanistan, the American answer was 'let him go'. A few
weeks after 9/11 the leaders of the two Pakistani Islamist parties
negotiated with Mullah Omar and bin Laden for the latter's
extradition to Pakistan to stand trial for 9/11. Once again the US
refused the offer.
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror' it is apparent that the
winners are the terrorists -- while Al Qaeda's finances are still
intact the US is running the highest budget deficit in history. What
can be done? Start by treating terrorism for what it is: a global
business; force our Muslim allies to act immediately to curb terror
funding and concentrate our efforts to hunt terror money in our
countries, even if that implies putting under investigation the
strongholds of Western capitalism: Wall Street, the City of London
and the thousand offshore centres linked to them.
--------------------
http://www.progress.org/2004/napo03.htm