CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, and the PLO. Masquerading humanitarian
charities divert millions to terrorist organizations. And individual sympathizers,
often among ethnic groups in foreign countries, send contributions
amassing to millions. Al Qaeda and Palestinian terrorists certainly prospered
from other people’s money in recent years.
When it comes to cash, terrorists and criminals are two peas in the same
pod. Al Qaeda, which earned, stole, and cajoled hundreds of millions of dollars,
and Iraq, which made billions from manipulating oil prices, illustrate
the point.
Al Qaeda
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Afghanistan, characterized by drugs, crime, corruption, war lords, and political
chaos, served as the incubator hatching Al Qaeda and its thousands of
terrorist warriors. Drawn to repel Soviet invaders in the 1979–1989 Afghan
war, Osama bin Laden ran Mektab al Khidmat, or the Services Office,
which recruited, trained, and equipped foreign volunteers to join Afghan
mujahideen fighters. Supported by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United
States and making effective use of shoulder-fired missiles against helicopters
and aircraft, the mujahideen heaped mounting losses on Soviet forces, leading
to their announced intention to withdraw in 1988 and complete withdrawal
the following year. Bin Laden, with thousands of highly trained and
motivated fighters now at his beckoning, formed Al Qaeda in 1988 and established
relationships with other radical Islamist groups.
The son of a billionaire Saudi contractor, bin Laden returned to his
country, Saudi Arabia, in 1989 and laced into the royal family for corruption
and religious deviance, resulting in his house arrest in 1991. Whether
pushed or eased into exile, he departed that year back to Afghanistan and
then relocated to Sudan, attracted by the ruling party’s Islamic ideology. Al
Qaeda, which means “the Base,” found a home in Khartoum, the capital,
and the sprawling deserts of Africa’s biggest country, with nearly a million
square miles and ample room for terrorist training facilities. The organization
gave arms to Sudan’s National Islamic Front, and in return the Sudanese
government gave land, hospitality, and construction contracts to bin
Laden and passports to Al Qaeda operatives.
Bin Laden, perhaps at first utilizing some inherited money, made a
number of investments in Sudan, reportedly in construction, trucking, im-