Exposing Terrorist Financing

COUNTRY NAME: International

Fighting Terrorism through Fundraising – The Financing Procedure

This paper presents a relatively less explored-thematic within the body of scholarship on terrorism, which is the goals, rationales, and objectives that underpin the act of terrorism funding. In planning and performing international acts of terror, terrorist organizations need significant financial resources. There appears to be an entire industry dedicated to actively aiding, abetting, and financing international terrorists, and there is a dire need to actively and counter this scourge. This paper however seeks to explore the factors that lead to the development of terror financing networks, this will form part of the possible solutions to counter threat of terrorism and terrorism financing and extend beyond mere condemnation of terrorism. 

What Are The Aims Of Funds Raising for Terrorism

Most importantly, building networks consisting of these members as a reality is essential for success in thought and funding of terrorism. Funding terrorism would be understood, as consisting of few sub-goals like radicalization of new members, attacks, equipment’s purchasing and other military operations. The amount of funding which would be subject to even some measurement is but a penny in the sandbox as compared with the money comfortably taken from the specific networks global money funnel.

Understanding how terrorist financing works and the objectives behind it is very useful in designing both preventive and counter measures towards terrorism.

Objectives Of Terrorist Financing

1. Maintaining Daily Activities

One of the main reasons for terrorist financing would be to provide for the ordinary operational expenses of terrorist developments. Terrorist organizations, like any other organizations, need money to efficiently carry out their activities. These funds range from:

Recruitment and Training: Terrorist organizations are required to spend money for recruiting new members and giving them the required training to execute their activities.

Logistics: As in any military setup, operational logistics which includes movement of fighters and weapons and other materials cost money.

Communication: Advanced means of communication is very vital for terrorists as they need to plan attacks and keep their operations confidential, and it is expensive.

Weapon Acquisition: Money is needed to buy guns, explosives, and other resources in order to commit the attacks.

In the absence of a regular income flow, terrorist institutions would be deprived of these crucial operational capabilities.

2. Recruitment and Radicalization

A stream of finances has also remained an integral part of the processes of recruiting and radicalization. Terrorist groups use money as a bait for attracting more people and converting them into extremists ideologically. The envisaged bait may be to some…

Salaries or Stipends: Providing a payroll or some allowance(s) to recruits as well as their families in order to win their support and call for them to the group.

Financial Assistance for Families: Offering funds to the families of prospective recruits, which is an excellent strategy of recruitment in places where poverty and unemployment are rampant.

By the provision of such financial rewards, terrorist organizations are able to recruit and radicalize susceptible populations and thereby spread their ideology and increase their operational capacity.

3. Planning and Executing Terror Attacks

The process of planning revengeful assault involves the use of money. Terrorist financing has been critical for the following:

Purchasing Weapons and Explosives: Many acts of terrorism for example, bombings or armed assaults depend on the use of weapons, explosives, and many other materials.

Operational Costs: The logistics behind planning and executing an attack such as planning the route, places to hide, and the needed items to perform the operations are also financed by terrorists.

Without support in terms of money, many of the terrorist organizations would have a big challenge in executing their violent missions.

4. Broadening Dominance

Terrorist groups have the tendency of having the urge to dominate or exert their authority in certain regions, populations and territories. Such acts and schemes are being financed with commodities such as, ‘Propaganda Campaigns: Terrorists’ – There is a financial support directed for these types of services or rather another terrorist investing money to provide support adds,’ which includes. ‘Community Outreach: Giving aid of social services or financial aid to communities enables building of a follower base and enlarges scope of control of the particular group,’ … ‘Controlling Territory: Funding is important to control the seized territory, feed the local informants or people who reside in these areas for their loyalty,’ Thus, through the provision of funding on such schemes and undertakings, terrorist groups are able to widen the scope of their operations, which is important for their survival and extended outreach.

5. Protection and management of relevance

In an effort to go unnoticed by government enforcement, these organizations have a frozen structure, they have to in order to function. If not for stability, then for the basic management of what has been achieved – the group and its activities. The core functions in this aspect are: - ‘Money Laundering: Terrorists utilize money laundering means to conceal the illegal roots of the money, which in turn makes it difficult for the authorities to follow money flows,’ - ‘Offshore Accounts And Encrypted Channels: Extremists frequently employ offshore accounts for money transfers, and when this is not sufficient, surveillance and detection are foiled while using encryption technologies.’

Such activities enable terrorist groups to remain resilient and function undercover while law enforcement bodies are unable to disrupt them.

6. Counterintelligence and Evasion

As a combined force, intelligence and law enforcement arms foils most attempts by these organizations, but they have relatively more success using financial resources as their most powerful tool of opposition. Some of the methods they use include:

Bribery and Corruption: Money is offered to government or law enforcement agents or intelligence officers to get their support or to look away and not oppose them.

Evasion of Financial Scrutiny: Terrorist organizations may employ techniques such as using shell companies, fake identities, and false documentation to conceal their financial activities.

Such measures allow terrorist factions to always keep the law enforcement officials at bay, they perform their nefarious acts with as little disturbance as possible.

7. Fostering Global Networks

Some of the terrorist organizations work towards establishing and enhancing the global structures by providing finance to the members of group or individuals working in other spheres. This widens the area of influence of operation as well as their ideological influence.

Financing helps to:

Establish Links with Other Terrorist Groups: Money is extended by the terrorist organizations to the groups they are affiliated with in order to facilitate their attacks in different locations and enhance their scope of influence.

Cross-Border Operations: Terrorist vice groups, through funding international networks, are in a position of mounting attacks at various located coordinates and regions.

These networks also enhance the efficacy of the terrorist group making it difficult to trace and dismantle.

8. Psychological Warfare

Funds targeting terrorist organizations can also cater for those intending to wage a psychological war. Such funds cater to;

Media Campaigns: Propaganda videos, websites, and any social media content that aims at instilling fear and recruiting sympathizers is produced and shared because of the funding that we train our youth through.

Fear and Chaos: Terrorist entities orchestrate chaos, create fear and media campaigns with the help of finances to create widespread disorderliness within the society and destroy the morale of their enemies.

The terrorists, with the help of money, can increase the effects of psychological warfare that is one of their most powerful weapons.

9. Building Resilience

To prepare for counterterrorism actions, members of one or more terrorist groups tend to create financial caches for themselves. This comprises:

Financial Reserves: Money or other hindrances are kept so that if one or more of their monetary avenues are cut off the group will still be able the weather the storm.

Funding Sources: Funding doesn’t just come from charity. Many terrorists have multiple streams of income which include charity, illegal activities, and even sponsorship by governments so that even if one stream gets disrupted their work will not come to a halt.

Building resilience ensures that terrorist organizations can continue operating in the environment despite outside threat.

10. Support of Religion and Culture

In some instances, the combination of terrorism and religion aids culture or religious institutions that act in alignment with the terrorist group’s extremist views. This is important to:

Legitimize Their Cause: The support of terrorists for cultural and religious causes has an aim to gain notoriety in certain communities and garner support for their activities.

Recruit Local Support: Giving financial help to religious or cultural institutions that share their beliefs helps them establish presence or recruit in certain areas.

Terrorists and others supporting terrorism can always undertake such activities and expand their network, and support for their causes by linking such activities to a religious or cultural cause.

Conclusion

First and foremost, let us comprehend the end objectives of such funding aimed at terrorism.