The business of terrorism

Abstract

The development of terrorists ready to engage in an attack is a long process, from recruitment through training and often including payments to family members for those killed in a suicide attack. Feeding, arming and providing the high level technical capacity to run a terrorist organization is not cheap. Paying-off officials can prove expensive. An analysis of counter-terrorist threat finance points out these other costs of maintaining a terrorist organization: travel; communications; purchase of weapons and material; maintenance of safe houses and safe havens; payment of bribes; transport and purchase of vehicles; purchasing forged identification and travel documents; intelligence gathering; and media time/advertising are significant. Despite the attention given to terrorist financing, too little attention has been paid to the business of terrorism.