Identify on a local or national level how terrorism is financed - Research Paper Example

Since contemporary age has witnessed large scale terrorism particularly in the wake of cold war between the USA and the former USSR and the advent of purported New World Order, which has divided the globe into different groups on the basis of religion, economic condition and geographical location. The 9/11 catastrophe has determined new dimensions of international relations, where different nations and societies declared their opponents as terrorists in the light of the attacks on WTC, New York.

Though the intellectuals view the catastrophe as a nefarious act designed by the US intelligentsia to capture the resources existing in the Islamic world, the western world found the hand of Osama Ben Laden and his companions in the entire catastrophe, which looked for taking revenge of the American and Israeli atrocities on the Muslim population of various countries. Tarpley (2004) observes that 9/11 was an example of state-sponsored, false-flag, synthetic terrorism, and hereinafter called synthetic terrorism.

Consequently, the Gulf based Al Qaeda was unanimously declared as the most notorious terrorist organization busy in challenging the very peace of the world. . Somehow, it is also is a reality beyond suspicion that no corporate firm or organization intentionally provides any terrorist group with the financial support; rather, the planning cell of terrorist organizations manages to receive the same in the sacred name of religious institutions, humanity, health, education and other humanistic purposes; the same is applied on the anti US reactionary militant group Al Qaeda.

Financial Action Task Force (2008) is of the view that terrorist financing requirements fall into two general areas: (1) funding specific terrorist operations, such as direct costs associated with specific operations and (2) broader organizational costs to develop and maintain an infrastructure of organizational support and to promote the ideology of a terrorist organization. Like all other militant groups, the organization under investigation also requires financing to run its administrative or structural as well as operational activities.

The administrative activities include the expenditures spent on the establishment of offices, staff recruitment, co-ordination with media, communication and propaganda activities and payments and salaries of staff members. They also include the payments of utility bills, sharing and exchanging of information and recruitment and hiring of the militants. Moreover, arrangement of residence, health and medical facilities related to the top leadership is also the part of administrative expenditures.

While discussing the operational activities, allocation, appointment and placement of the militants is one of the most significant operational activities of the terrorist organization. Since Al Qaeda has to