"Follow the Money"

"Follow the Money". A phrase used many times by "counterterrorist' experts in containing the terrorist or insurgent threat is "follow the money". If you can cut the funding stream then you can degrade the operational capacity and capability of the terrorist or insurgent group. "Counter Threat Financing" is a field of counterterrorism that has seen increased interest this past decade. ISIS - based in eastern Syria and western Iraq - receives money from a variety of sources to include taxation of the residents living within the geographical areas it controls (the size of the United Kingdom), smuggling of goods and oil, proceeds from kidnappings, spoils from conquering places like Mosul (bank holdings, etc.), selling antiquaties on the black market, and donations from wealthy Arab nations and organizations in the Middle East. Tracy Samuelson tells us how ISIS is funded in "Where ISIS gets its money", Marketplace World, November 16, 2015.

FATF Report. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of weapons of mass destruction. FATF has produced a report that analyzes recently identified terrorist financing (TF) methods and phenomena. Read Emerging Terrorist Financing Risks, October 2015.

Afghan Mines - Taliban Insurgency. The Natural Resources Monitoring Network (NRMN) said that the Taliban are trying to take control of provinces that are rich in minerals in a bid to bolster their finances. Security has drastically deteriorated in mineral rich provinces in Afghanistan over recent months. See "Taliban Eyes Afghanistan's Mines to Fund Insurgency", Tolo News, October 25, 2015.

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