Blog 4: Funding of Terrorism

Summary:

The article details the story of a 31-year-old affluent Canadian citizen working as a pathologist (in 2009) that was accused of funding terrorism in Iraq under the guise of charity. Khurram Syed Sher's 2009 tax record showed that he had previously been very charitable, but this singular donation to a group claiming to be supporting poor communities in Iraq was all it took to bring him under both the Canadian government and international spotlights. And the donation in question was for the amount of $400. A recording had recently been discovered by Canadian authorities that captured a conversation between Sher and his co-conspirators, and the conversation stated that Sher was well aware of what his money was being used for. Sher has since denied the evidence on the tape, dismissing it at "not being serious." Today, February 28th, Canadian federal prosecutors stated that they are certain that Sher was knowledgeable of the donation and not just an innocent being caught in some kind of strange misunderstanding.

Analysis:

I found this article and its implications very interesting. At an outsider's glance considering the recorded evidence, it seems too blatantly obvious to be true. But what really had me at odds was for the almost negligible donation of $400 that has caused this whole controversy. I had always thought that the funding of terrorist groups were done outside of large countries like Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and others. I imagined the donations to be much much bigger and the donors to seem more menacing and evil. Khurram Syed Sher looks like an everyday businessman you'd find in any big city, not some puppet financer for terrorism. If Sher was able to (or in his cause: wasn't able to) fund terrorist groups from thousands of miles away, then nearly anyone who wished to would likely be able to. That is quite a scary thought once I was able to process it. I had never thought that these kinds of transactions could have been done electronically, as I always pictured some kind of dark back-alley deal going on. In my background, I didn’t know many groups had the capabilities to accept “donations” through electronic transactions.

Article:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Khurram+Sher+knew+donated+money+would+funding+terrorism/9563859/story.html