The Financial Front in the Global War on Terrorism
Abstract
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has aggressively executed the Global War on Terrorism on many different fronts. The approval of Executive Order 13224 on September 24, 2001, marked a bold initial step toward targeting terrorists' financial networks. The success of terrorist organizations is dependent upon these financial networks because even though terrorist attacks are not necessarily expensive, the support of international terrorist networks, training camps, command and control, and infrastructure requires either a large reserve of available finances or the ability to raise significant funding. Because terrorist organizations must raise, move, and use money, aggressively pursuing terrorists on a financial front can and should be an integral component of any counterterrorism strategy. There are three different but interrelated dimensions of this front that either target terrorists' financial networks or capitalize on their dependency on finances. First, the government can freeze and block financial assets by labeling individuals or organizations as terrorists or as being associated with terrorism. These actions degrade terrorists' access to funds and increase the costs of raising, transferring, and using funds. Second, tracking the movement of funds among individuals in terrorist groups and their supporters provides verifiable indications of associations, relationships, and networks. Third, many of the acts in which terrorist networks engage to raise and move funds are illegal. Terrorists and their financial supporters frequently commit illegal fund raising, money laundering, tax evasion, fraud, and international currency violations. Thus, prosecuting individuals for financial crimes can be an effective strategy. With this framework the authors examine some of the actions taken and lessons learned by the multiple agencies, corporations, and individuals that have played critical roles in the financial war on terrorism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA434893
Entities
People
- Michael J. Meese
- Patrick D. Buckley
Organizations
- United States Military Academy