September 16, 2007: The United
States has been very successful at tracking down the source of money terrorist
organizations run on. Despite efforts to hide the money trail, the U.S. has
used eavesdropping, and access to the international banking systems electronic
funds transfer system, to identify frequent, and heavy, donors. These are often
wealthy, and often prominent, Saudi Arabians. These guys are Islamic
conservatives who, for a number of reasons, support Islamic terrorism. But
because these men are prominent in Saudi society, and have taken no personal
part in any terrorist acts, the Saudi government is reluctant to go after them.
Despite a population of 25
million, a few hundred families run things in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The
men who head these families know each other, or of each other. It's a tight
knit club, and no one wants to rock the boat because a few members have exotic
causes they contribute money to. Another problem is that it's rather
fashionable for powerful Saudi men to support Islamic causes. The few Saudis
contributors that will comment on the subject, simply point out that they
donate to numerous Islamic charities. It's true that some Islamic charities are
fronts for terrorist organizations, or simply give some of their money to
terrorists in the false belief that it will not directly finance violence.
Terrorists also steal money from Islamic charities, or otherwise divert
resources, for terrorist activities. The end result is that the Saudis who
bankroll terror, and the Saudi government that does not want to antagonize any
of its prominent citizens, have some wiggle room here. Thus, despite decades of
evidence, the Saudi government refuses to crack down, and the U.S. continues to
see millions of dollars flow out of Saudi Arabia every year, eventually finding
its way to al Qaeda, Taliban, Hamas and other Islamic radicals.
