Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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Members of the 7/21 cell conducted training in the hills in Cumbria
in the northwest of England. One British police officer conducting sur-
veillance on the group said the men were conducting a military-like
maneuver.
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In 1989, members of the World Trade Center cell went shooting a num-
ber of times at a Calverton, New York, shooting range.
Financing
According to one Al-Qaeda operative, “There are two things a brother must always
have for jihad, the self and money.”
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It is undeniable that terrorism costs money,
but funding is needed not only to wage jihad in the form of an attack. Terrorist
organizations need money both to achieve their goals and run their organizations.
Money is needed for every step in the tradecraft cycle, from recruiting members
and feeding those recruits to acquiring weapons and transportation for those car-
rying out the attacks.
There are no strict rules or formulas for how terrorist organizations raise
funds. Funding sources are often diversified, and come from a variety of means,
even within one organization. Similarly, groups can finance their efforts from
legitimate sources as well as illegitimate sources. The 1993 Landmarks Plot was
financed primarily through speaking engagements by Omar Abdel Rahman (the
Blind Sheikh) and Siddig Ali, which were held at local mosques and even at
one public school in Brooklyn, New York. Those who attended his speaking
engagements were told that the money raised was to go to Islamic charity groups
and organizations, along with the families of soldiers slain in the “holy war” in
Sudan. While some of the money did go to local mosques and charities, the rest
would go to the terrorist cell.
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Before 9/11, revenue streams for terrorist orga-
nizations primarily came from large-scale, top-down sources such as state spon-
sors, financial donors, and large charities. After the attacks on 9/11, the United
States government responded with an aggressive and targeted response to attack
the money trail of terrorist organizations, which has forced cells to finance their
own operations.
The total cost of the 2004 Madrid attack is unknown, but the attack was
financed through sales of illegal drugs. The cell financier, Jamal Ahmidan, was
a known drug trafficker. He continually traded hashish and ecstasy in exchange
for explosives in deals with known criminals. Abu Mezer and Lafi Khali, the
two individuals who attempted to attack New York City subways in 1997, sup-
ported themselves by working full-time jobs at various delis and odd construc-
tion jobs. They eventually left New York for Greenville, North Carolina, where
they worked in a supermarket owned by a relative of a connection they made in
New York.
