Booklist

Long before President Bush placed an order to freeze terrorist assets, senior members of al-Qaeda had purchased millions of dollars of diamonds and other gems in an effort to convert cash into commodities that are difficult to track and easy to smuggle. This revealing piece of investigative journalism details how terrorist organizations are financed through an underground network that is fueled by the African diamond trade, gold, radical Islamic charities in the U.S and abroad, and crimes ranging from coupon fraud to drug trafficking. Farah first came upon the al-Qaeda diamond trail a few weeks after the September 11 attacks while working as the Washington Post's bureau chief for West Africa. This report exposes a critical gap in U.S. intelligence, revealing major oversights on the part of the FBI and CIA, who have consistently ignored compelling information that could have enabled the U.S. to cut off the flow of money to terrorists in the wake of 9/11.
- David Siegfried

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