Counterfeits and Counterterrorism
Military activities are big business -- just ask the nice folks at Halliburton. Tax dollars (yours and mine, around the world) fund the various government-sanctioned versions of warfare. But who's paying for the rest? With Leonardo DiCaprio starring in the upcoming film Blood Diamond, we're certain to hear a great deal about one source of funding for armed conflict. Today's New York Times, in a front-page article on the Iraqi insurgency, discusses other means of financing violence:
The insurgency in Iraq is now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt Islamic charities and other crimes that the Iraqi government and its American patrons have been largely unable to prevent, a classified United States government report has concluded [emphasis added].
Counterfeit Chic has already discussed the alleged link between counterfeiting and terrorism here, here, and here. It's almost a cliche that profits from an illicit market in anything (drugs, human beings, handbags) can be used to fund other illegal activities, although inquiring minds prefer concrete evidence of a connection.
Speaking of evidence and connections, why exactly is it that the paper of record is publishing the contents of a confidential report, obtained from "American officials"? In a troubled administration, is "counterfeit classified" the new "top secret"?
