Terrorist Financing Since 9/11: Assessing an Evolving Al-Qaeda and State Sponsors of Terrorism

The September 11 hijackers used United States and foreign financial institutions to hold, move, and retrieve their money. They deposited money into United States accounts via wire transfer and deposits of travellers checks and cash that was brought from overseas. They kept funds in foreign accounts, which they accessed through ATMs and credit card transactions here in the homeland. According to the September 11 Commission, the plot cost al-Qaeda somewhere in the range of $400,000 to $500,000, of which approximately $300,000 passed through the hijacker's bank accounts here in the United States. After the attacks, the United States publicly declared that the fight against al-Qaeda financing was as critical as the fight against al-Qaeda itself. The charge of the United States intelligence and law enforcement communities was clear: If we choke off the terrorists' money, we limit their ability to conduct mass casualty attacks.