The Political Conundrum!

Take a moment and head over to VA Mortgage center at http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/blog/2008/12/01/what-a-shame/ and read my latest blog entry. I am interested in what you think.

Well-planned deadly terrorist attacks such as the one in Mumbai last week against targets scouted out in advance are not conducted on the spur of the moment at a cost of mere pennies. The large amounts of ammunition and the advance planning by the terrorists who attacked 10 targets within a short time period is a reminder that terrorist attacks often need funding and other material support for their deadly activities.

Too often, though, as seen in the recent trial of the Holy Land Foundation for providing support to Hamas, lawyers try to downplay or even attack laws designed to curb the backing provided by those supporters who may not actually pull the trigger but provide the funds, weapons or other essentials for conducting a major attack.

It may seem a long way from Mumbai where terrorists killed at least 173 persons including six Americans and 13 other foreigners, to the Dallas, Texas trial where on Nov. 24, the Holy Land Foundation and five former leaders were found guilty of channeling $12.4 million to Hamas-affiliated committees and groups since 1995. That January, an executive order made it illegal to provide material support to a dozen foreign terrorist organizations including Hamas. But although there is no known link between Mumbia and Hamas, there is a common thread—material support they receive from supporters.

President Clinton’s January, 1995 executive order designed to curb money flows to 12 groups (10 Arab and two Jewish) that threatened the use of violence against the Middle East process was followed up by more detailed legislation that Congress eventually enacted as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. (Public Law No. 104-132, 110 Stat.)

A material support provision, 18 U.S.C. 2339B, makes it a criminal offense for American citizens or residents to knowingly provide funds or other forms of material support that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of Treasury, designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The legislation covers such forms of support as funding, weapons, and training as well as the provision of financial services and has been used in dozens of cases.

Over the past few weeks, Hamas's international financial support network suffered a series of setbacks, most notably the U.S. federal court conviction of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders on charges of providing material support to Hamas. Despite these convictions and the broad sanctions in place against Hamas, however, the group remains capable of raising substantial funds, through both traditional and innovative means.

On November 24, a Dallas jury convicted the HLF of all counts in a major terrorist finance case. According to the Justice Department, "HLF intentionally hid its financial support for Hamas behind the guise of charitable donations" amounting to approximately $12.4 million "provided in support to Hamas and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad."

Just two weeks before the HLF verdict on November 12, the Treasury Department designated the Union of Good (Etelaf al-Khair, also known as the Charity Coalition), a Saudi-based umbrella organization that began as a fundraising drive and developed into an institution working with more than fifty Islamic foundations worldwide, as a "specially designated global terrorist entity" (SDGT). According to the Palestinian Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip, "The Union [of Good] is considered -- with regard to material support -- one of the biggest Hamas supporters." Noting its ties to Hamas, Israel outlawed the organization in February 2002. According to Treasury, Hamas leaders created the Union of Good in 2002, stating that it "facilitates the transfer of tens of millions of dollars a year to Hamas-managed associations." The Union "acts as a broker for Hamas by facilitating financial transfers between a web of charitable organizations . . . and Hamas-controlled organizations in the West Bank and Gaza."

The SDGT designation appears to already have had an impact on Hamas financing. A few days after Treasury's decision, the British bank Lloyds TSB instructed the Birmingham-based Islamic Bank of Britain to cease dealings with Interpal, a UK-based charity previously designated as a Hamas-financing entity by the U.S. government and highlighted as a central player in the Union of Good's web of Hamas-associated charities.

Despite the recent successes in efforts to disrupt Hamas's financing, the group is still able to raise substantial funds. As the governing party in Gaza, Hamas has access to new sources of funding, including taxes and customs fees.

The full article is available here.

China said today it is looking forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama's national security team, welcoming Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser.

When August's fighting surrounded her cottage in this quiet village, Tamuna Kitiashvili fled to the Georgian capital with her husband and 3-year-old daughter. They returned to find their home covered in what looked like flashlight batteries, but the cylinders were deadly cluster bomblets designed to tear apart tank armor.

Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid received a second death sentence today - this time for crushing a Shiite uprising in the wake of Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. He already faces the gallows for his role in the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in a crackdown in the late 1980s.

I saw this happen a few times when I was in Afghanistan too. We call this Karma where I am from. Apparently they were not paying attention in IED class. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6544799.html

A number of my colleagues here on CT Blog, among others, have commented on the recent address by Al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) number two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Needless to say, the overall response has not been on the favorable side. It is time, past time, actually, since Zawahiri is a self-proclaimed representative of AQ and the Muslim World, to take the examination and commenting a step further and look more closely at AQ itself, in addition to the individual members who have become media darlings.

In addition to all the other memories that came flooding back to those of us who had lived through and/or worked on 9/11 and the aftermath, the seven years since have provided sufficient time to view 2001 through a wider, almost a macro lens. Commentator after commentator has reflected upon the fact that we have not been attacked again in a similar fashion, so there is no need to add to that stack. What has not been seen, though, is a look at the perpetrators - if only for the purpose of stimulating discussion.

September 11, 2001 is “book-ended” today, of course, because of the series of attacks in Mumbai, India. The attacks in India’s financial capital, however, do absolutely nothing to change the preexisting picture of AQ.

We, collectively, tend to focus on the infamous worst-case scenario. We do this for a variety of reasons: As individual citizens, we are dependent on the information that is given to us to evaluate the threat of terrorist attacks; we are not privy to classified information on a routine basis, excepting only that which has been made releasable to the public; our primary information source, the media, operates in a conflicted environment - oscillating between your right to know and the demands of the ‘bottom line” and ratings rankings. We often alternate, therefore, between a drip-by-drip supply of information from our Intelligence Community and trying to drink from the fire hose of often-suspect information from the media.

There is an ETT team that is in need of some support and they are asking only becuase they are very remote, way out on the edge and have no way to get to a PX on a normal or regular basis. These guys are truly on the front lines of the Global War on Terror. If you are motivated to “support the troops” then here is your chance, becuase they need it.

Some of the things they are looking for are:

* Microwaveable goods
* Instant oatmeal
* Baby wipes, especially anti-mircrobial baby wipes
* Books
* Movies
* Power bars
* Laundry soap (single wash packets are great)
* Hygiene items
* Chocolate
* Misc. junk food
* Cigars
* Copenhagen
* Skoal
* American cigarettes
* Anything else that strikes the hearts… thank you.

I know some people may have an issue with sending tobacco products, but becuase there have been instances of US soldiers being poisoned after buying cigarettes and dip off the local market, they are no longer allowed to purchased any from the local market. Since there are no PXs downrange, these men are hurting. Trust me, being away from family and loved ones, getting blown up by the Taliban, being blown off by the Afghan Army, and ignored by the leadership will drive any sane person to some sort of vice. They need to release somehow so a smoke or a dip isn’t a bad way to do it. And to be quite honest, getting cancer is the least of their worries during their year on the ground.

If you would like to help out and send something, please do me a favor. Comment on this blog entry that you are, and then email me at admin@bouhammer.com for the address.

I have updated the About Me page and laid out what the main points of my military career are. If you care to see what I have done, what units I have been in, etc., then scroll down until you see the ClusterMaps graphic and the Calender of Posts. Right between those two is a page titled “About Bouhammer”. And if you don’t care, that is fine too.