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Afghans in rebuilding their country will give them a means to earn a living and could give them an incentive to preserve their communities against any effort by al Qai'da elements to regain a political entré. It would also help reconstitute Afghanistan's labor force.

Duration of the War on Terror

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7) In his speech to the Joint Session of Congress last September 20, President Bush said of the war on terror that “...[i] t will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.” In your opinion, how long will it take to attain this objective?

While we are striking major blows against al-Qa’ida-the preeminent global terrorist threat-the underlying causes that drive terrorists will persist. Several troublesome global trends-especially the growing demographic youth bulge in developing nations whose economic systems and political ideologies are under enormous stress-will fuel the rise of more disaffected groups willing to use violence to address their perceived grievances.

These trends are fueling a growing backlash against globalization itself. Although we view globalization as having been the driver of the world economy in recent years, it has come under attack from those who see it as the source of income disparities, unemployment, slower growth, and financial crises.

Nations Supporting Terrorism

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8) In his speech to a Joint Session of Congress last September 20, President Bush stated that "from this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." The Secretary of State maintains a list of countries that have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism." Currently there are seven countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism— Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, and Sudan. How good is our intelligence on the terrorist activities of these countries? Has the intelligence Community noted any increase or diminution of these countries' support to terrorism since September 11, 2001?

Collecting intelligence on what level and types of support these seven states provide to terrorist groups is one of the Intelligence Community's highest priorities. The collection surge against terrorism—thanks in large part to strong Congressional support—will boost our capabilities.

Iran continues to provide support—including arms transfers—to Palestinian rejectionist groups and Hizballah.

· Iraq has a long history of supporting terrorists, including giving sanctuary to Abu Nidal.

Syria refuses to restrain Hizballah and Palestinian rejectionist groups. Damascus provides political and logistic support to groups engaged in the Palestinian intifada until a negotiated settlement on the Golan is achieved with Israel. Damascus generally upheld its agreement with Ankara not to support the Kurdish PKK.

Since 11 September, Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi repeatedly condemned terrorism, publicly supported the US right to retaliate against alQa'ida, and called attention to his efforts to bring Usama Bin Ladin to justice through Interpol for alleged activities against the Libyan Goverment.

North Korea, which seeks to escape the economic and strategic consequences of its pariah status, has little incentive in this international environment to order a terrorist operation, either directly or by proxy. Pyongyang, however, continues to provide safehaven to members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army.

• Cuba likely is unable to provide significant assistance to international terrorist groups because of its limited resources, but Castro continues to allow members of ETA, the FARC, and ELN to live and receive medical care in Cuba.

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Although Sudan has taken steps to crack down on some terrorists, others remain present in Sudan. Sudan condemned the 11 September attacks, and the United Nations recognized Sudan's positive steps against terrorism last year by removing UN sanctions in late September. Sudan continues to demonstrate increased willingness to cooperate with us against terrorism.

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Tracking and Freezing Terrorist Assets

9) A major area of U.S. focus has been tracking and freezing the finances of al-Qa'ida and other terrorist groups. What have you learned about the nature and extent of terrorist financing that we did not know prior to September 11, 2001? Where are our most important information gaps when it comes to terrorist financing?

The breadth and depth of our knowledge of terrorist financing has improved since September 11. Although we were aware that Usama Bin Ladin provided tens of millions of dollars a year to the Taliban, other terrorist groups, and his own terrorist infrastructure, we have learned new details on the importance that al-Qa'ida placed on fundraising and finance from the dismantlement of several al-Qa'ida cells and the capture of al-Qa'ida members in Afghanistan. The organization tries to raise funds from mosques, Islamic charities, and individuals-rich and poor-throughout much of the world. This has helped corroborate our view that al-Qa'ida relies on a steady stream of contributions.

Since September 11, we have devoted substantially greater resources to the terrorist finance effort and have found solid information on al-Qa'ida financial links to numerous regions of the world, such as East Asia, Europe, and the United States. Financial links have helped establish al-Qa'ida associations in several US cities, Spain, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere that have been disrupted by arrests and asset freezes.

• We will never be able to stop all terrorist money flows, but we can definitely slow the rate of terrorist funding and fundraising with foreign cooperation in investigating and freezing accounts, and targeting those that finance terrorists with the same vigor that we target terrorist operatives.