The U.S. Treasury Department has confirmed that five times as many of its agents were assigned to track Cuban embargo violations than to track the flow of money to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
Under President Bush's Executive Order on Terrorist Financing, issued Sept. 24, 2001, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is charged with "the prevention and suppression of acts of terrorism, the denial of financing and financial services to terrorists and terrorist organizations, and the sharing of intelligence about funding activities in support of terrorism."
Records sent to Congress last year by OFAC show that from 1990 to 2003, only 93 cases related to the investigations of terrorist financing had been opened, with a total collection of $9,425 in fines for violations of terrorism financing laws. During the same time period, OFAC agents pursued 10,683 investigations of possible violations of the Cuban trade embargo, collecting over $8 million in fines unrelated to terrorist activities.
OFAC's revelation brought swift and pointed criticism from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), threatened to legislate a cut in OFAC's funding if the agency didn't bump up its efforts against terrorists like bin Laden.
"This is really astounding," Dorgan was quoted as saying. "I hope somebody in the administration will soon come to his or her senses and start directing our resources where they are needed. Politics is clearly diverting precious time, money and manpower away from the war on terrorism here."
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), agreed.
"OFAC obviously needs to enforce the law with regard to U.S. policy on Cuba, but the United States is at war against terrorism, and al-Qaida is the biggest threat to our national security," Grassley said. "Cutting off the blood money that has financed Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden must be a priority when it comes to resources."
The Treasury Department admits its terror-fighting shortcomings, but says it plans a major reorganization that will place OFAC under the control of a new Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
According to Treasury Secretary John Snow, the initiative will allow OFAC to double its terror-fighting resources by 2005, a much needed change, according to Secretary Snow.
In a response to Sen. Grassley, Snow wrote, "In a post-Sept. 11 world it was crucial that we took a good, hard look at the capabilities we had available as well as question what changes needed to be made in light of that attack."
