Turn to abductions shows al-Qaida's cash squeeze

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_KIDNAPPING_FOR_DOLLARS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-19-12-48-56

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pressured by increased scrutiny of terrorist money sources and strikes aimed at its financiers, al-Qaida's core organization in Pakistan has turned to kidnapping for ransom to offset dwindling cash reserves, according to U.S. officials and information in files retrieved from Osama bin Laden's compound.

Bin Laden's interest in kidnapping as a cash-raiser bolsters accounts that the financial squeeze has staggered al-Qaida, forcing it to search for alternative funding sources. Officials would not detail al-Qaida's role in specific crimes, but the group's affiliates have targeted diplomats, tourists and merchants.

His awareness of al-Qaida's growing use of kidnapping is evidence that even in isolation behind high walls in Abbottabad, Pakistan, bin Laden kept tabs on how his network moved its money. The al-Qaida founder was killed last month by U.S. Navy SEALs.

"There are clearly times for them when money is tight," said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "We've seen that their donors have been less dependable and we're seeing them turning more to kidnapping as a way of keeping the money coming in."

make it impossible even for those of us who pay pretty close attention to parse the bullshit from actual news, and the inflated threat from the real.

Eventually, someone at the top is going to have to pull back the curtain, separate the spin, fiction, puppets, and patsies from the real threats, or the public will not be able to trust anything the government says on security issues ever again.

Parsing bullshit from actual news was the essence of Kremlinology.

It's actually harder now to figure out what Washington is actually doing than it was to figure out what Moscow was doing during the cold war.

Then you competing interests vying for the spin.