Quote:
Originally Posted by bryantm3
i don't remember the exact number but it was surprisingly low) $15,000 USD to keep their organization running. and once you think about it, it actually becomes quite obvious that they would not need a lot of money. although you state that they are waging war...
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while your assessment may hold true for some small group, this is a global terrorist organization were talking about here.
Just the cost in weapons alone has to run in the millions of dollars each year. Just one AK-47 cost about $800, on the cheap side of the scale. But, for uses in this example, lets say that they can get an AK-47 for $200. Do you actually believe that the entire organization (including the al qaeda affiliate groups) only need 30 AK-47's each year? Not to mention all the RPG's and bomb making material, as well as ammunition.
Then there is travel. This organization is world wide. Im sure they have some agents that travel for meetings. Then there is the pay, as im sure terrorists need money too. I am sure many of them have families to support. I am also sure that Al Qaeda has sleep agents in many countries and I am sure the upkeep on these agents is not cheap either. For example, alqaeda put all of the 9/11 terrorists through flight training. So on top of the expense of housing while they were in the united states, each person went though flight training at the cost of thousands of dollars per person. They have also proven that the 9/11 terrorists also flew between states in the US, and even went to las vegas. So, as you can see, to run an operation such as al qaeda is not cheap.
Also, just FYI, while it is true that most of the time the opposing forces fight by remotely detonated bombs and through the use of suicide bombers, there have been many instances there they do attack forward operating bases, and also try to defend strategic locations.
Here is on example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_...surgent_forces
Also,
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/ira...ase_in_ramadi/
"Leaflets were distributed and posted on walls, saying al Qaeda in Iraq, the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was taking over the city. “Its followers will burn the Americans and will drive them back to their homes by force. Iraq will be a graveyard for the Americans and its allies,” one of the leaflets read."
while these examples are a few years old, this still goes on (not so much in Iraq anymore) . These are the only specific examples I can recall at the moment.