Treasury: Taliban's Bankroll Beats Qaeda's

(CBS/AP)  The Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al Qaeda and rely on a wide range of criminal activities to pay for attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, a senior Treasury Department official said Monday.

David Cohen, the department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing, said the extremist group extorts money from poppy farmers and heroin traffickers involved in Afghanistan's booming drug trade. The Taliban also demand protection payments from legitimate Afghan businesses, he said during a speech at a conference on money laundering enforcement. (Read Cohen's prepared remarks here)

Cohen's assessment came as President Barack Obama and his top advisers discuss whether many more troops may be needed in the 8-year-old Afghanistan conflict. A critical part of the deliberations is whether the fight should be a more narrow one against al Qaeda or a broader battle against the Taliban-led insurgency.

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According to Cohen, al Qaeda is a cash-strapped organization that is losing its clout. That condition is the product, he said, of a long-running effort by the U.S. and its allies to cut off the terror group's sources of funding by targeting its deep-pocketed donors and interfering with its ability to move money.

In the first half of 2009, he said, al Qaeda's leaders made four public appeals for money to bolster recruitment and training.

"We assess that al Qaeda is in its weakest financial condition in several years, and that, as a result, its influence is waning," Cohen said at the conference, sponsored by the American Banking Association and the American Bar Association.

But Cohen cautioned that situation could reverse quickly because a pool of donors "who are ready, willing and able to contribute to al Qaeda" still exists.

The Taliban, meanwhile, appear to be heading in the other direction despite an international effort to shut down the movement's cash supply. Drugs are a major money maker for the group.

But Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said the Taliban get most of their cash from private benefactors in the Persian Gulf.

Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in his 66-page assessment of the war that the diversity of the Taliban's streams of cash makes it difficult to blunt their ability to operate.

CBS News Special Report: The Road Ahead

Cohen said portions of the Taliban's illicit proceeds make their way out of the country and into the global financial system. But he did not specify how much or detail the money's suspected entry points.

Cohen's assessment comes as the Taliban pledged to mobilize fighters across Pakistan for more strikes after a suicide car bombing targeting Pakistani troops killed 41 people, the fourth grisly militant attack in just over a week.

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the 22-hour weekend attack on the nation's heavily fortified army headquarters, saying a cell from Pakistan's most populous province carried out the raid.

The claim that a Punjabi faction of the Pakistani Taliban was behind that strike is a sign the insurgents have forged links with militants outside their main strongholds in Pashtun areas close to the Afghan border, increasing their potency.

"This situation is looking pretty ugly," a senior Pakistani government official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari after Monday's attack in Shangla district. "The dangerous part of the attack in Shangla is that this was the area from which the Taliban were pushed out," he added. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the recent wave of attacks.

[FP1970]

And how much of this money is being used to subvert immigration policies in Western nations? Al-Qaeda and the Taliban both have a vested interest in making sure that Western countries keep open immigration policies so they can get more agents in. They also have a vested interest in using proxies in America to fight legal battles on their behalf to make trouble for anyone who criticizes multiculturalism (happens a lot in Canada and Britain) and to test American defences, e.g. the case of the "flying imams" who acted like stereotypical terrorists and then tried to sue the airline for "profiling", e.g. Minnesota cab drivers suing for the right to turn away people with seeing eye dogs or who have an closed bottle of wine, all of this allegedly on the grounds of Islamic law.

It's something to think about isn't it?

[bubbadubba]

Odd, another story just a week ago said that 100 million dollars in US tax money is getting filtered to the Taliban as protection to not attack US troops.
I wonder why this story did not mention that source of money?
Strange.

[finkfust]

Isn't it odd that in an article about Taliban and Al-Qaeda finances there is NOT ONE NUMBER MENTIONED! The reason?............. because the US Government actually doesn't have a clue. It's all lies, spin and PR as usual.

[enwr77]

Boy they have all parts of the government in on the propaganda campaign to change our minds about this war. Now it?s the Treasury and of course our whipped media. Now we are to hate the Taliban since they are the ones in Afghanistan and not Al Qaeda or Sadaam. Here we go again with another war and monies for the war industries and not health care. We are a warring tribe and wonder why our children are so violent. Again like Iraq and Iran all I see and hear are White men telling how things are in Afghanistan. I did not fall for it with Iraq or Iran and not here either.

[jefleshman]

enwr77

As I agree with you on the medias focus. The Media has dramatically shifted in reporting from Iraqs media assessment of doom and gloom and it will not succeed to Afghanistan. I have a different thought on why.

The Iraq wars doom and gloom concept of failure has significantly dropped and has been at least smothered for now! Less IEDs so less to sensationalize oh my goodness the world is coming to an end reporting!

Good Stories and progress do not make the headlines. Since Iraqs progress out does death and gloom the media has lost interest and it has shifted to try to paint a false doom and gloom outlook in Afghanistan and the same old garbage story of Death and Destruction. Oh my goodness Afghanistan is in shambles and it will not be a success. The same garbage they said about Iraq.

I hate it just as much as you do. I wish they would tell a complete story instead of the gloom outlook.

Thank you for your post.

[txlakeside]

Money rules the "GODS" of many religions! Ask the Christians, Jews or Catholics! They (religions) have bankrolled the worst atrocities against man! If your GOD believes in an eye for an eye, moral control, or jihad .... kiss my entire @ss! Your GOD is a false GOD!

[rhs648]

docpeter1953 - The Taliban are simply criminals and thugs hiding behind the veil of religion. Regardless of how negative some people are toward religion, no modern mainstream religion condones murder, suicide bombing, and indiscriminate maiming of people. What makes things worse is that they do this against their own people as well as foreigners. Would people like this care if their fellow countrymen have food?

[txlakeside]

Oh yeah .... Tim McVeigh and abortion clinic bombings are not religious fanaticism at the 10th screwed degree .... get a life, forget your religion and help your fellow man! Religion does nothing other that "doctrine" you follow!

[docpeter1953]

I was watching a story last night on the news about this and they showed a large MJ field and a bunch of cut poppies. I was sitting there thinking why the heck don't they just napalm those fields. Then convert them to food fields so they can feed their people.

[merlgrey]

lol. keep thinking.

[enwr77]

Too many of the rich here is America are making money from the poppy just just like in the Vietnam war

[sdemaggie]

Considering Afghan GDP is estimated at less than $1B what as a percentage of GDP is the taliban take? What is the cost of equipping and maintaining a taliban fighter in the field? What are the numbers? What is Our cost per taliban fighter fielded? What is Our cost per taliban fighter killed? Considering We are blowing $5B a month in this back water isn't it cheaper to pay the taliban to fight al qada? What a waste of treasure.

[republicanright]

The past nine years Pakistan's fight with the Taliban has been all talk. It is rumored that certain factions of the Taliban still have full control over large portions of the Swat Valley. Pakistan's Secret Service (equivalent to the CIA) support the Taliban in various ways, even today. Pakistan has'nt taken a firm militarty stance against the Taliban for good reasons.

And Pakistan's actions against the Taliban is still nothing but ballyhoo.

[mjvwsr]

"Treasury: Taliban's Bankroll Beats Qaeda's"

if they have any money they also beat ours