All Policy Analysis by Matthew Levitt

Combating terrorist financing is one of the most critical fronts in both the war on terror and the implementation of the roadmap to peace. In both cases, cutting off the flow of funds to terrorists hinges on focusing on logistical and financial support networks. Too often security, intelligence, and law

Remarks to a conference on "The Economic War on Terrorism: Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing," Garmisch, Germany, July 21–25, 2003 Constricting the Operating Environment The war on terror is far from over, even as we find ourselves fighting another -- more conventional but no less critical -- war in Iraq

Earlier this month, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency announced new rules governing Saudi charities and welfare agencies. From now on, each charity must consolidate its funds in a single bank account licensed by the government, from which cash withdrawals are banned. Explaining the new rules in Washington, Saudi ambassador Prince

The UN operates by consensus, a major counterterrorism handicap given that several of its members are proactive state sponsors of terrorism. Hezbollah poses a threat to Australia and threatens others with support of members in Australia. The Australian initiative to ban Hezbollah, despite the group's absence from the UN Security

Even as President Bush invests his considerable personal prestige and the power of his office in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, his initiative is threatened by the continued flow of financial and logistical support for Hamas terror attacks through the group's social-welfare infrastructure. The first phase of the road map requires the Palestinian

The National Security Council is scheduled to hold a "senior level meeting" Thursday to formulate administration policy toward Iran. Electronic intercepts indicating senior al Qaeda operatives in Iran were behind the Riyadh bombings suddenly sparked official "concern" regarding the hospitality master terrorists enjoy with the compliments of their Iranian Revolutionary

The recent bombings in Riyadh and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's remarks condemning them have raised expectations that U.S.-Saudi counterterrorism cooperation will improve so that such tragedies can be averted in the future. What internal dynamic will guide the Saudis' handling of this crisis? What sort of counterterrorism cooperation are they

Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent talks in Damascus focused not only on Syrian sponsorship of Palestinian terrorist groups, but also on Syria's increasingly intimate ties with and support for Hizballah. Yet, Syrian support for terrorist groups of global reach does not end with Hizballah. Recently revealed intelligence on al-Qaeda

Syrian sponsorship of terrorism topped the agenda of Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent trip to Damascus, and his visit was quickly followed by conflicting reports regarding the status of various terrorist headquarters there. The coming weeks will determine whether the Damascus offices of Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)

Within hours of Mahmoud Abbas's (Abu Mazen) confirmation as the new Palestinian prime minister and the presentation of the Quartet's roadmap to peace, two suicide bombers struck a seaside bar next to the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, killing three civilians and wounding sixty more. As is frequently the case

After the unveiling of an American backed Israeli-Palestinian plan known as the road map earlier this month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell embarked on a trip to the Middle East. Significantly, however, he did not stop in Israel or the West Bank on this trip, but went straight to

Today, the State Department releases the 2002 edition of Patterns of Global Terrorism, its congressionally mandated annual accounting of international terrorism. The report chronicles a year marked by both devastating terrorist attacks and remarkable progress targeting al-Qaeda in the war on terror. However, against the backdrop of the increasingly successful

With the Iraqi regime defeated and military victory near at hand, the United States and it allies are positioned to leverage greater cooperation in the war on terror from key Arab states, chief among them Saudi Arabia. For all its rhetoric, and its limited actions, Saudi Arabia remains part of

MATTHEW LEVITT The widespread notion that the war on terror cannot be pursued simultaneously with the war in Iraq is erroneous, a fact that was bolstered by the capture of al-Qaeda leader Khalid Shaykh Mohammed on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Counterterror operations continue, with wide international support from

Remarks to a conference on "Global Terrorism: If This is World War III, How Do We Win?", Strategic Dialogue Center, New York Constrict the Operating Environment The war on terror is far from over, even as we find ourselves fighting another -- more conventional but no less critical -- war

The capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's operational commander and 9/11 mastermind, demonstrates that the United States can, in fact, walk and chew gum at the same time. The fact that the greatest success to date in the war on terrorism occurred well into the planning stages of the

The capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is great news for the War on Terror: The United States continues to take out al Qaeda's top leaders. But last month's federal indictment in Tampa, Fla., of eight members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is vital, too: It shows that the Bush administration

In a recorded statement released this week, Osama bin Laden called on Iraqis to carry out suicide attacks against Americans. Al-Qaeda is not the only terrorist organization to call for such attacks, however; just four days earlier, Hamas spiritual leader Shaykh Ahmed Yassin published an open letter calling on Muslims

Following Secretary of State Colin Powell's February 6 address to the United Nations Security Council, some questioned his description of the "sinister nexus between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network." In fact, the relationship between Baghdad and terrorism mirrors the way in which today's international terrorist groups function: not as

In mapping out Iraq's links to international terrorism before the United Nations Security Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell highlighted the case of senior al Qaeda commander Fedel Nazzel Khalayleh, better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In fact, Zarqawi exemplifies not only the Iraq role in the web of international