Al Qaeda needs a bailout

Here’s one nice consequence of the Great Recession, the global terror network is low on funds: Al-Qaida’s top commander in Afghanistan urged Turkish Muslims in a new audio message to send money to militants fighting coalition troops in the country, saying they are low on funds. Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed said many militants in Afghanistan are ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Here's one nice consequence of the Great Recession, the global terror network is low on funds:

Here’s one nice consequence of the Great Recession, the global terror network is low on funds:

Al-Qaida’s top commander in Afghanistan urged Turkish Muslims in a new audio message to send money to militants fighting coalition troops in the country, saying they are low on funds.

Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed said many militants in Afghanistan are unable to fight because they lack the necessary equipment.

"And we, here in Afghanistan, are needy of money," al-Yazeed said in the message released Wednesday. "And the reason for the weakness of the operations here is the inadequacy of equipment."

U.S.-led efforts to disrupt terrorist financing deserve some credit, but it’s not much of a stretch to think that some AQ donors may have been cleaned out during the Persian Gulf’s ongoing economoic slump.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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