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| US Believes Charities, Drugs, Weapons Among Source |
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Posted by FoM on September 21, 2001 at 10:46:05 PT Editorial Source: Record-Eagle 
U.S. officials believe Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is financed largely through charities and a variety of businesses. Government experts also suspect illegal drugs and weapons trafficking are enriching bin Laden's group.There are strong indications bin Laden's al-Qaida network has profited handsomely from the opium trade, with fighters used as smugglers and to protect smugglers, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Al-Qaida's part in drug trafficking likely continued at least until Afghanistan's ruling Taliban cracked down on opium production last year, Kerry said. Opium, used in the manufacture of heroin and morphine, has an added attraction for terrorists because such drugs head to the United States and lead to problems such as addiction and crime, he said. "That's part of their revenge on the world," Kerry said. "Get as many people drugged out and screwed up as you can." Jonathan Winer, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for international enforcement in the Clinton administration, said those who deal in drugs usually also traffic in guns, although the extent to which bin Laden is profiting from the gun trade is unknown. The world is now awash in light weapons, making their sale less profitable, Winer said. The question then becomes whether bin Laden is trafficking in higher-powered weapons, he said. U.S. investigators are tracking the money behind bin Laden and al-Qaida, prime suspects in last week's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A new multiagency task force pursuing terrorist finances will go beyond bin Laden's group, Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Rob Nichols said. "Our mission is threefold. One, deny terrorist groups access to the international financial system. Two, impair the ability of terrorists to raise funds. And three, expose, isolate and incapacitate the financial holdings of terrorists," Nichols said. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the government is investigating whether terrorists tried to profit from stock and options trading before the suicide hijackings of commercial airliners on Sept. 11. Tracing such transactions to people behind the hijackings could be very difficult, he told the Senate Banking Committee. The United States believes bin Laden is tapping several sources of finance, but not his own fortune. Whatever is left of an estimated $300 million he inherited from his family, it is considered unlikely that bin Laden is using it for al-Qaida's activities. Instead, government officials believe he is drawing much of his cash from charities and wealthy individuals, including some in the United States. The U.S. government believes all the money raised here is sent abroad. How it gets there is a key part of the investigation. Islamic charities, as religious organizations, do not have to disclose the sources or destinations of their fund raising. Kerry said U.S. efforts to track bin Laden's finances may be complicated by his network's use of the "hawala" system, an underground money system that in part lets people in different countries swap cash, eliminating the need for cross-border transfers and avoiding exchange laws. According to testimony in this year's trial of men charged in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, during bin Laden's years in Sudan he ran several businesses that served the dual purposes of raising cash and procuring equipment needed by al-Qaida. Complete Title: U.S. Believes Charities, Drugs, Weapons Among Sources of bin Laden's Finances Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle (MI) Related Articles & Web Site: Holy Warriors Escalate an Old War War on Terrorism Threatens War on Drugs U.S. Drug War Pays Afghans Who Aid Terrorists Taliban Do What 'Just Say No' Could Not Ban On Poppy Farming Virtually Wipes Out Opium Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #12 posted by MDG on September 23, 2001 at 11:24:52 PT |
| I don't know if they are, but here's a picture Senator Fatcat Moneybags' very own hand!!! (Why doesn't he have chubby little fingers?) [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #11 posted by Dan B on September 23, 2001 at 02:02:35 PT:
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| The good thing about being cryptic is that one gets all sorts of great interpretations that one never thought of as one was writing. I like the way you think. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by dddd on September 22, 2001 at 23:53:28 PT |
| ....I also thought that maybe the petrleum jelly thing,might have been about the politician,,,,who was being kind enough to lubricate an object,before telling the American taxpayers,,;"Bend Over"... dddd [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #9 posted by Dan B on September 22, 2001 at 23:42:29 PT:
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| Oops! I mean they're, not their. One would think I'd refrain from such mistakes by now. :O) Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #8 posted by Dan B on September 22, 2001 at 23:39:35 PT:
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| It was my own weird attempt at bringing the petroleum industry into the picture. Greased palms also figure into the reference; the idea is that his palms have been greased by the petroleum industry (among others). Their an easy target, I'll admit, but I thought I'd throw in the allusion and see if anyone caught it. It appears that dddd came closest. I'll try to be less cryptic in the future. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by MDG on September 22, 2001 at 20:59:08 PT |
| I thought maybe it had to do with slipping more easily into people's pockets, but I'd imagine it's hard to pull out money if there's P.J. all over his fingers. I think I'm looking too much into a fictional tale of debaucherous politicos. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by dddd on September 22, 2001 at 17:51:55 PT |
| I think it had something to do with his palms being greased? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by MDG on September 22, 2001 at 09:44:59 PT |
| Dan B, the fictional story was great, but I can't figure out why Congressman Moneybags was soaking his hands in a bucket of petroleum jelly. Is it completely obvious, or I just missing something? On an unrelated note, last night on Nightline, they are now doing a short program they call "Fact Checks". I hadn't seen them before, so I don't know how long they've been doing this. What they said was, (paraphrased) "There are a lot of rumors going around on the internet, and we're going to debunk them with our propaganda" or something like that. They show a "quote" which has a classic (not unrealistically paraphrased) "A friend of my dad's co-worker's son's ex-girlfriend heard from a bartender that several Arabs came in and accidentally spilled the beans about there being 'major bloodshed on September 22'" Then, Ted Krapple speaks with their "expert" at the FBI. It appears TV is fighting back against the internet. I guess if you can't censor it, you might as well accuse it of lying! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by dddd on September 22, 2001 at 02:00:43 PT |
| Los Angeles,California;..Federal agents and SWAT teams conducted raids in several major metropolitan areas around the country today,as part of a two month terrorist control campaign,that was launched by the newly created Office of Homeland Security,or OHS.The raids were part of Operation Dark Donor,that targets charitable organizations that are known suspects involved in funding terrorists,such as those who attacked the WTC,and Pentagon on September 11.
Offices of The United Way,Christian Childrens Fund,UNICEF,ACLU,and Consumer Reports were targeted by the heavily armed SWAT teams.342 suspects were taken into custody,along with dozens of computers,boxes of files,and several turbans.A spokesman from the OHS refused to comment,saying that any further information would compromise the ongoing investigation. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by Dan B on September 22, 2001 at 01:16:18 PT:
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| Down With Charity! Washington D.C.: U.S. officials believe Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is financed largely through charities and a variety of businesses. In light of this startling revelation, President Bush has made an announcement that charity will no longer be tolerated. "I want to make this clear: tear down that red cross!" Bush said in a press conference Friday. "The countries of the world will now have to make a decision: either you refrain from acts of charity, or we will destroy you. Make your decision now. You have five minutes." The announcement sent shockwaves through charitable organizations around the world. One supporter of charity, Phil Anthropist, told our reporters that he is working to restore the right to charity and is actively lobbying members of Congress for support. Mr. Anthropist says, "I don't see why the president is going after charities, but not businesses. Clearly, Osama bin Laden has been supported by both." Others disagree. Senator Fatcat Moneybags (R-TX) argues that, unlike businesses, charities are a drain on the economy because they do not have to pay taxes. "Those who think they can get around tax laws--drug traffickers and those so-called charitable organization--will soon find out they are sadly mistaken," he said while soaking his hands in a bucket of petroleum jelly. Twelve hours after the president's announcement, This News Organization (TNO) took a poll and found that 93% of Americans believe "all efforts should be made to end terrorism--" a clear indication that Americans support the ban on charity. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by dddd on September 22, 2001 at 00:40:03 PT |
| You are always right on,and I appreciate,and admire your knowledge,and awareness of propaganda. On the topic of funding from charities,drugs,and weapons,,,I would be much more interested in tracking the money involved in the political empire right here in the US!The fact is that charities,drugs,and weapons,are a main reason,and source of this new fabricated jihad on "terror". dddd [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by observer on September 22, 2001 at 00:25:14 PT |
| US Believes Charities, Drugs, Weapons Among Source . . . U.S. officials believe Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is financed largely through charities and a variety of businesses. Government experts also suspect illegal drugs and weapons trafficking are enriching bin Laden's group. . . . Notice the general "drugs". Is that heroin or hash? Whatever, it is all so scary! Brrrrr! Notice the rhetorical linkage between drugs and terror(ism). This is the propaganda device of transfer in action! Transfer can also be used in the negative sense by identifying the enemy with evil symbols. This is the sort of thing the Communist seeks to do when he refers to Western ideas and practices as those of “war—mongering, imperialistic Wall Street capitalists. . . . The effectiveness of propaganda may be enhanced if the source can raise anxieties and produce fear.” (Counterintelligence, Subcourse ITO103, ed. 5, 1975, pg. 103;5;12-13 "propaganda techniques", sec 5, "countersubversion") [Theme 1.] The Drug is Associated With a Hated Subgroup of the Society or a Foreign Enemy http://drugwarpropaganda.selfhost.com/t.cgi?1 http://www.mapinc.org/propaganda see also: NIDA: Themes in Chemical Prohibition, William L. White, 1979 http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/ticp.html [ Post Comment ] |
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