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Terrorism Money Is Still Flowing

[Los Angeles Times] Josh Meyer - The U.S.-led effort to choke off financing for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups is foundering, according to current and former officials and independent experts. In some cases, extremist groups have blunted financial anti-terrorism tools by finding new ways to raise, transfer and spend their money. In other cases, the administration has stumbled over legal difficulties and interagency fighting. But the most serious problems are fractures and mistrust within the coalition of nations that the U.S. admits it needs to target financiers of terrorism. "The international cooperation and focus is dropping, the farther we get from 9/11," said Michael Jacobson, who was a senior advisor in the Treasury Department's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence until March 2007. "Some countries lack political will. Others just don't have the basic capacity to govern their countries, much less create a viable financial intelligence unit." Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other key nations have not taken the necessary steps to crack down on terrorist financing or suspect money flowing across their borders.
2008-03-24 01:00:00
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