Enemy cash flow

Rowan Scarborough:

The U.S. military is not only trying to stop terrorists and arms from leaking into Iraq from Syria and Iran but also another just as dangerous commodity -- cash.
It's the lifeblood of the enemy -- whether they be al Qaeda terrorists, death squads or Sunnis trying to evict American forces and bring back dictator Saddam Hussein -- and U.S. raiders have seized millions of dollars in cash during the conflict.
Military officials point to Syria and its secretive banking system as the main source of Sunni walking-around money, while Iran's Revolutionary Guard funnels money to Shi'ite militias, such as cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
The enemy's money began flowing into Iraq with the start of the insurgency in the summer of 2003, and the shipments are still coming in.
"There are billions coming in," said Daniel Gallington, a former aide to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. "The Middle East is the center of graft and corruption in the universe. It really always has been. The fight in Iraq is about who controls what area is really all about who controls the money."
...
Retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong, the former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, said literally tons of cash moved from Baghdad into Syria as the U.S. invasion neared in March 2003. That money is now going full circle to feed the Sunni insurgency.
"We watched caravans going into Syria," Gen. DeLong said. "They took their money; their jewels. They took everything."
But not all the cash got out.
"We found U.S. money all through the capital," Gen. DeLong said. "Saddam and the Ba'ath Party had caches of U.S. money stashed everywhere. One day, one guy found $10 million in cash."
...
At this point there has to be more than just the old regimes cash flowing into the insurgency. There has to be outside sources for this cash flow, but the story gives no indication of who these sources might be. The US has concentrated of the charities that have sustained al Qaeda in dealing with its cash flow. Right now I would be looking at the Iranian banks.

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