"In Israel, organized crime groups counterfeit American dollars for export to the United States." - Expert Louise Shelley http://www2.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/demokratizatsiya%20archive/02-3_Shelley.PDF
On Wednesday, January 7, 2015 7:37:14 AM UTC-6, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/terror-expert-shelley-speaks-of-islamic-state-business-model-a-1011492.html > Terror Expert Louise Shelley: 'Islamic State Is a Diversified Criminal > Operation' > > [image: Photo Gallery: Funding the Jihad] > > *SPIEGEL:* Professor Shelley, leaving aside the victims for a moment, > what does a terrorist attack actually cost the terrorists? > > *Shelley:* At first glance, it is less than you think. To obtain weapons > or to train a small group of terrorists is not excessively expensive. Take > 9/11 as an example: The costs are estimated at only $500,000. But I think > this is the wrong approach for a calculation. The essential question here > is: What are the costs of maintaining a terrorist organization > <http:///international/world/us-envoy-warns-no-short-term-solutions-for-stopping-islamic-state-a-1010880.html>? > > You need tremendous logistics, you need to keep all the fighters motivated, > you have to take care of the families of terrorists who are killed, and so > on. You need many millions. > > *SPIEGEL:* In your new book, "Dirty Entanglements: Corruption, Crime and > Terrorism", you write that every terrorist success story starts like the > establishment of a successful business: with the collection of seed money. > In al-Qaida's case, the money originated from Osama bin Laden's fortune. > Where does Islamic State's seed money come from? > > *Shelley:* From two sources. The antecedents of IS received donations > from the Gulf States, but now it has smaller, new contributions from many > locales. The smuggling routes they are now using were also used during the > post-invasion period for low-level smuggling -- of cigarettes and > pornography. > > *SPIEGEL:* Pornography? > > *Shelley:* Yes, I was also surprised that there was such trade in the > region now under IS control. Now, IS is financing itself largely through > the oil trade, but also many other activities. It is a diversified criminal > operation. > > *SPIEGEL:* What sort of activities? > > *Shelley:* With looted art from the occupied territories, for example. It > is sold via Ebay, at art fairs or in premium antiquarian shops in Europe. > But that does not really bring in a lot of money because the market is > limited. The terrorists think quite broadly about their sources of > financial support and the number of potential customers for expensive items > is small. IS taxes trade, they make money from the passports sold by > foreign fighters, they sell mobile phones, trade in illicit cigarettes and > engage in kidnapping as well as human smuggling and trafficking. And, of > course, the arms trade. Other terrorist groups make money selling pirated > CDs and DVDs. Counterfeit goods, forged passports and documents, the > illicit wildlife trade and drugs earn a lot for terrorist groups. > > *About Louise Shelley* > > - Louise Shelley, 62, is the founder and director of the Terrorism, > Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University. She > is the author of "Dirty Entanglements: Corruption, Crime and Terrorism", > which was published last July. > > *SPIEGEL:* How do the trade routes work for such illicit deals? > > *Shelley:* They simply use traditional trade relations. The connections > between Iraq, Syria or Turkey are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. > They were parts of common empires throughout history. Corruption of > officials allows products to cross borders. > > *SPIEGEL:* Does that mean that terrorist organizations are connected to > organized crime from the very beginning? > > *Shelley:* I would not say they are connected to organized crime. They > participate in organized crime. Sometimes terrorist organizations outsource > criminal activities to organized crime groups, sometimes they keep them > in-house. In case of the latter, they bribe officials and execute the > operation by themselves. They use corruption as would an organized crime > group. IS was formed in the prisons of post-invasion Iraq, which were > crucial in forming the relations between the terrorists and the > criminalized Baathists of the Saddam Hussein regime. > > *SPIEGEL:* Is it not actually taboo for jihadists to cooperate with > regular criminals? > > *Shelley:* An interesting question. A lot of experts I talked to say that > for the Islamists, criminals are "usable". They are not untouchable. You > can recruit staff for the jihad from among criminals by promising them that > they will be cleansed of their sins. That is quite an attractive offer for > Muslims. Within IS are a lot of fighters with a criminal past. > > *SPIEGEL:* Is it even okay for a "holy warrior" to smuggle porn, so long > as it serves a higher goal? > > *Shelley:* What IS is teaching is not Islam. The terrorists have > reinterpreted Islam for their own purposes and they use this distorted > Islam to justify their actions. They do many things that are against Islam. > When Imams in Turkey and Saudi-Arabia re-educate former terrorists, they > explain that they have interpreted the Koran falsely. > > *SPIEGEL:* That all sounds more like corporate interests than Caliphate > interests. > > *Shelley:* Yes, that's right. By now, many IS documents have been > confiscated. In analysing them, you notice that the group is managed like a > regular business. With IS, as with other terrorist groups, there is proper > bookkeeping with a meticulous listing of incomes from different sources and > an offset of the expenses for salaries, bribery or weapons. Terror is also > a business -- a good one. Because terrorists operate like a business, it is > important to go after them with a variety of legal measures and not just > criminal law. Germany is now focusing on penal law but it has long > experience with administrative and regulatory law that would be very > helpful in addressing the facilitation of terrorist business practices. > > *SPIEGEL: *We don't want this to sound nostalgic, but what happened to > old school terrorism? Did terrorist groups not have ideological goals in > the past? > > *Shelley:* There has been a huge transformation in international > terrorism since the end of the Cold War. With the decline of state support > for terrorism, terrorists have turned more to crime. But even groups like > the IRA were deeply involved in criminal business and, at some point in > time, became more like criminals than like terrorists. If you continuously > need to gather money for your operations, that eventually becomes the > center of your thinking rather than ideology. Still the old alliances > between terrorism and crime differ from the modern ones. > > *SPIEGEL:* In what way? > > *Shelley:* Take the Mafia as a traditional form of trans-national crime. > They depended on the state for contracts. Both the mafia and the Yakuza in > Japan grew after World War II along with the postwar economies of Italy and > Japan. The Mafia became so powerful because it used state structures in > Italy and infiltrated them even up to top government circles. It grew with > the state and became rich. The Yakuza in Japan proceeded similarly. They > were part of the system and benefited from it. That is also the reason why > they did not attack the state like terrorists do. Today, there are global > networks for both crime and terrorism that operate outside the state, and > that is why it is much easier for both criminals and terrorists to operate > globally. > > *SPIEGEL:* Has globalized capitalism corrupted terrorism? > > *Shelley:* It is more complicated than that. Groups like IS are closer to > the historical trade traditions of the Middle East than to the industrial > capitalism we know today. That is why they are more focused on generating > money by trading in oil, other raw materials or goods to finance their > terrorist organization. That is why they also launder their money through > trade-based money laundering. > > *SPIEGEL:* It appears that terrorist groups and international criminals > are among those who have profited from globalization. > > *Shelley:* Indeed. We still think in state structures. And on the other > side are these groups that use the opportunities of globalization and the > vanishing of borders for their own purposes and earn money with it. > > *SPIEGEL:* The revenues from all these commercial operations need to be > transferred from one place to the other. How important is the Hawala system > -- the transfer of money via trusted persons without the use of banks? > > *Shelley:* Of course Hawala belongs to the system. But it is not as > though everything goes through informal systems; the money also intersects > with the legitimate economy. Oil smuggling involves more than criminal and > terrorist groups. Already in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, members of his Baath > Party participated in it and some former Baathists are part of IS and are > still participating in the oil trade today. It is not just a dirty > entanglement of terrorists and criminal groups within the state machinery. > It is a trade that interacts with the licit economy of trucks, tankers and > banks -- not only in Iraq, but worldwide. > > *SPIEGEL:* Is cybercrime among the business sectors that terrorist groups > participate in? > > *Shelley:* An interesting point, because nobody talks about it. When I > talk to government representatives, they tell me that we have to bomb IS > territory to deprive them of the possibility of continuing to earn money > with the oil trade. Then I say: And you believe that is how you end > terrorist financing? This is one of the basic mistakes in > counter-terrorism: We talk about following the money. Then, investigators > look back at what these groups did to make their money in the past. But > terrorists think like businessmen. They ask themselves: How can I make > money today and tomorrow? And cybercrime, of course, is part of that. > Members of the al-Qaida affiliate responsible for the devastating Bali > bombing in 2002, that killed 202 people, were sent to prison in Indonesia. > There, one of the leaders raised money for the cause through Internet > crime. There is more than a decade-long history of al-Qaida involvement in > fundraising through the Internet. > > *SPIEGEL:* Does that apply to IS as well? > > *Shelley:* At the moment, the group makes so much money with oil that > they do not need cybercrime. But of course it possesses the capabilities. > You only have to look at how professionally they use computer technologies, > the Internet and its social network capabilities > <http:///international/world/interview-with-former-fbi-agent-and-islamic-state-expert-ali-soufan-a-1003853.html> > > for their public relations activities and recruitment. Additionally, these > groups are connected globally, exchange information and learn from each > other. Therefore, the past experience of al-Qaida is available to them. > > *SPIEGEL:* In Germany everybody talks about terrorism, but few talk about > organized crime. Is there an underestimation of the danger that results > from the blending of these two sectors? > > *Shelley:* I have noticed that in Germany there is little research on the > linkages of these phenomena. There is also little basic analysis on the > non-traditional security challenges facing Germany today. Germany is > surrounded by many regions of the world where dirty entanglements are > pervasive -- North Africa > <http:///international/world/islamic-state-expanding-into-north-africa-a-1003525.html>, > > the Balkans, and the Middle East. Germany does not control its borders any > more. Yet there is little analysis on the consequences of this for Germany. > Few researchers are studying the reasons for, and the dimensions of, > illicit migration into Germany. In my conversations with the German > government, I talked about an African country that nobody has on the radar, > but because of its abundant natural resources, dozens of trans-national > criminal organizations are active there. I was asked: How do you know that? > And I replied: Because I do research! Germany was once known for its > research tradition. It should remember that. > > *SPIEGEL:* What role does Germany play when it comes to the business > dealings of international terrorist groups? > > *Shelley:* Think about the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. It > was partly planned and prepared in Hamburg. Germany did not pay attention > to the problem of international terrorism then -- this country provided a > good retreat for such groups. Today, IS in Germany recruits hundreds of > volunteers to support terrorism. Part of the many millions of dollars that > were embezzled at the Afghan Bank have been run through Germany. The heroin > that helps support the Taliban likewise comes to Germany. There is no > doubt: The problem of international crime and trans-national terrorism is a > problem for your country, too. > > > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZ25waWJvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MjA1ODU3NTM-> > > > - New Members > > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbTN0ZWZpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxNDIwNTg1NzUz> > > 1 > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNnRvMXBrBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQyMDU4NTc1Mw--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
