The Lucrative Business of Militant Terrorism

Sep 09, 2014 Bhattarai Chiranjeevi Politics 0

The terrorist has become a brand. Its doings may be called marketable. Global media serves as its exposure and promotion. Fear and paranoia are its unique selling proposition. And by the measure of the success enjoyed by wealthy terror groups, the terrorist also happens to be very rich. The business of terror is definitely booming. Terror organizations may flaunt a sensational pseudo-purpose to champion some pseudo-cause and sow fright and violence while coercing their way toward their goal. However, objective does not necessarily equal motive. For the multi-billion dollar terror business, safety of civilians isn’t part of the equation at all.

It is precisely the stereotype of the terrorist that was successfully created in the minds of the people that has been making the terrorist a brand. In reality, the wealthiest terrorists are nothing but criminals promoted to the stature of terrorism precisely because of saturated media coverage and the consequent obsession created among their audiences. Freedom fighters they certainly are not. The business of terror is a totally syndicated and strategically planned enterprise. Its markets are well-defined. Its offerings of fear and panic are smartly packaged. Its advertising via international media just happens to neatly fall in place. Terrorists precisely want their stereotype to be sensationally known.

Image Credit: Phc Johnny Bivera, USN

Globally Bankrolled Terror Group

What is described as the most notorious of all terrorists, al-Qaeda conducts a very profitable business that is financed worldwide. The erstwhile jihadist group had spiraled into a criminal organization. One of its money-making nefarious activities is kidnapping for ransom. Members of the group made $500,000 ransom money after three weeks from one kidnapping alone in 2011 when they nabbed a pediatrician named Safi Harzan right from his clinic in Kirkuk. Revenues from kidnapping have made this group extremely wealthy. Kidnapping Europeans has become one of the group’s most profitable activities. European governments are known to bankroll these Islamic extremists where ransom money is delivered via proxies or even masked as development aid. In Europe since 2008, al-Qaeda has made at least $125 million in kidnapping revenues, $66 million of which was delivered in 2013 alone. For the same period in the United States, al-Qaeda made roughly $165 million.

World’s Richest Terrorist Group

The United Nations reports that in the first six months of 2014, more than 5,500 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the spate of violence caused by the Sunni militant offensive. This huge humanitarian toll has been brought about by the grisly campaigns of what was formerly called the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Organized in April 2013, the jihadist group that used to be affiliated with but now disavowed by al-Qaeda is currently just called Islamic State (IS). Known for their quick offensives and subsequent brutal rule in major areas in Syria and Iraq, the group has earned the reputation of being the most feared militant group in the world today. International media have covered and featured the group’s sharp militant skills and unbridled brutality to the point of widespread fear. From bank robberies, looting of military supplies, and oil smuggling, ISIS, now known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is estimated to be worth $2bn. One analysis even calls ISIS’s wealth as war economy. The International Business Times calls ISIS the “world’s best-resourced terror organization.”

Other Well-Moneyed Industry Players

Other top players in the highly lucrative terror business in the world are far from being underfunded. After all, it is a multi-billion dollar industry in itself. While it used to fight for Irish independence from Britain, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is now one of Europe’s most notorious money laundering groups worth more than $450 million. With incomes from operating the world’s largest opium production, as well as earnings from extortion, human trafficking, even foreign donations, the Taliban of Afghanistan is worth more than $400 million. Thriving since the 1960s as a Marxist guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army (FARC) is worth anywhere from $80 million to $350 million per year. Known as the “Army of The Righteous” and existing since the 1990s, the Pakistani militant group called Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has $100 million in its coffers every year. Boko Haram, the notorious and ultra-violent terror organization said to be fighting to institute an Islamist regime in Nigeria, is worth upwards of $70 million.

The aspect of motive has made terrorist groups even more dubious. They have become as widespread as they are controversial because their definition has also become relative. Only their actions, tactics, and implementation make them immediately definable. The biggest enigma in the word terrorist lies in the region of motive. Now, more than ever, it has become clearer that the business by which terrorist groups exist is purely for profit. They wield their firepower in the face of sheer brutality and make tons of cash along the way. They are nothing but hardcore criminals, albeit not common.