Stardate 20010919.0643 (On Screen): Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, one of the best ways to combat an enemy was to try to interfere with his logistics, his ability to move supplies to his armies and navies. (The technical term for this is "interdiction".) Even terrorists have logistical problems, though they're not as great as for a normal high-tech army. One thing in particular is money: even a terrorist campain uses a lot of it, and it's got to come from somewhere. Tracing the money which is paying for organizations such as Al Qaeda isn't, however, going to be very easy. International banking is as full of holes as a sieve. There's a black list of countries whose banking rules permit easy laundering of money, and some of them are going to be really hard to influence. Does anyone really think that Myanmar is going to cooperate?
(discuss)
