Are Politics Stalling the War on Terrorism Financing?
We would maintain that the active denial of the true nature of Shariah and Shariah-compliant finance has meant that the war on terrorism financing has never been properly waged to begin with, but nevertheless, the article below from the Journal of International Security Affairs is well worth a look.
… it is obvious that the war on terror financing and money laundering has stalled. This is clear even through the lens of the government’s own bottom-line metrics: assets seized and forfeited, successful investigations and prosecutions, and effective sanctions. In fact, the situation has gotten considerably worse of late, as political considerations have progressively displaced or rolled back serious work that has been done to date on draining the financial “swamp” in which terrorists and terror-supporting regimes operate.
The time-tested ways of moving money and disguising its origin are still effective, though each method has vulnerabilities. Criminals and terrorists conduct billions of dollars in transactions each year through four principal means: the formal financial sector (e.g., banks), the informal financial sector (e.g., hawala, a simple broker system based on trust), the trade system (e.g., commodities) and cash smuggling. In recent years, terrorists and their supporters have also perfected the abuse of charities using all of these methods.
…all too often, politics has the effect of driving policy. The war on terror finance is no exception, and over time political priorities have diluted the effectiveness of America’s effort to drain the financial “swamp” in which terrorists operated. Here, changing Western policy toward Iran is perhaps the clearest case in point.
…the sanctions regime against Iran is now in danger of unraveling. By rolling back sanctions as a result of the November 2013 interim deal (formally known as the Joint Plan of Action), Tehran has been given an opportunity to reinvigorate its economic and diplomatic ties with the rest of the world, and Western countries have eagerly exploited the opening to do business with Iran. Re-legitimizing business as usual before Iran makes any significant concessions on its nuclear program not only sends the wrong message, but impairs the West’s ability to negotiate effectively.
Today, “frenemy” countries have become increasingly emboldened to test the appetite of the United States and its allies to fight rogue finance.
One such state is Turkey. Although itself no stranger to terrorist attacks, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Edogan has become a notable supporter of terrorism financiers. One prominent example is Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi, who has been designated an al-Qaeda financier on the UN’s 1267 list, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist list and the European Union’s “Consolidated list of persons, groups, and entities subject to EU financial sanctions.” Mr. Erdogan has publicly defended Qadi…
Another bad actor is the Gulf state of Qatar. Four years ago, the U.S. State Department called Qatar’s counter-terrorism regime one of the worst in the region. In addition, the Treasury Department has blacklisted several Qatari nationals for their links to al-Qaeda. Most recently, Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Umayr Nu’aymi, described by the Treasury Department as “a Qatar-based terrorist financier and facilitator,” was designated for his role as a financier who “provided money and material support and conveyed communications to al Qaeda and its affiliates in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen.” Qatar also remains one of the last key patrons of Hamas, the terrorist organization that rules in the Gaza Strip, and it has provided the group with aid to the tune of about $100 million annually. Additionally, Qatar has hosted Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal for the better part of the last 15 years.
For these countries, and others, the stalling of America’s war on terror finance has allowed them to skirt the fundamental choice outlined by President Bush back in 2001: to decide, in both political and economic terms, whether they are with us or with the terrorists.
http://www.avijorisch.com/11001/a-stalled-war-on-terror-finance
Categories
Archives