ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the financial elements of the insurgency in Iraq. It provides a detailed examination of the major Sunni and Shiite insurgent organizations and their funding. The chapter presents recommendations aimed at improving the coalition's ability to interdict insurgent financing in Iraq. Some reports argue that the main pillar of the insurgency came from these Iraqi nationalists among the traditional Sunni tribes and that Sunni nationalism seems to be the strongest contributing factor fueling the unrest. According to Caleb Temple, mosques in Iraq itself, but also in Iran and the Gulf states collected funds for the insurgents. The Associated Press interviewed several drivers describing how truck drivers delivered boxes of cash to Iraqi addresses and bus drivers witnessed cash movement during pilgrimage activities, a convenient and effective cover for illicit transfers from Iran into Iraq. Both Sunni and Shia groups moved funds into Iraq from neighboring countries.