Usama Bin Laden Plan


Mohammad Fakral-Deen and Ghazi al Sharhan

Year 2000 Season
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First Affirmative

Honorable Judge(s), most worthy partner, respectful opponents, and helpful timekeeper, Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening…

People used to get up early in the morning to go work, and they’d be hours late for dinner, only to be found dead on the streets. People used to live in seemingly peaceful environments, not anymore, terrorists fear nothing, they’d commit seriously violent acts of terrorism in broad daylight, and no one would be able to do anything about it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to fight this DISEASE that’s been spreading worldwide, and what better way to start than to eliminate the biggest contributors to this widespread havoc? You guessed it, Usama Bin Ladin, the most wanted terrorist and sponsor of terrorism world-wide, he’s on the top hit list of the United States and many other world countries. He has done nothing but harass and kill Americans, and encourage other dumb-founded people to follow in his footsteps, which they have?! Ladies and gentlemen, it’s just outrageous, and that is the main reason why we stand in front of you today in proposition to a change in the reckless status quo.

Resolved: The United States’ Government should substantially change its Foreign Policy towards the Arabian Gulf.

First, let me start by defining the terms of the resolved:

- United: joined together, made or become one; acting together, cooperating;

- States: political community under one government or forming part of a federation; civil government;

- United States: a country situated in North America;

- Government: group or organization governing a country;

- should: auxiliary verb used to express duty or obligation;

- substantially: notably;

- change: make different;

- Foreign: of, from, or dealing with a country that is not one’s own;

- Policy: course or general plan of action;

- Foreign Policy: a country’s policy towards foreign/other countries;

- towards: in relation to;

- Arabian: of Arabia;

- Gulf: large area of sea partly surrounded by land;

- Arabian Gulf: a gulf lying in the Middle East, south of Iran, and north and north east of the GCC countries;

Secondly, let me identify some harms of the status quo, (which is the current state of affairs, i.e. the US’s current policy towards the Arabian Gulf):

 

 

 

Harm #1:

Militant Islamic groups are being illegally financed in their violent acts of terrorism, and the government(s) of the financiers’ country/countries know(s) nothing about what’s going on.

2nd Speaker:

The United States’ Government’s foreign policy towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not satisfy the stability and security necessities in the Arabian Gulf region. Individual Saudi Arabians are helping and financing militant Islamic groups without the ‘knowledge or consent of the [Saudi] Government’. For "Prince Nayef, the Saudi Interior Minister, said publicly that although Riyadh had stopped financing militant Islamic groups, individual Saudis were still helping them without the ‘knowledge or consent of the Government’." This obviously adds huge blocks of fear of the spread of chaotic, hazardous, and deadly terrorism in the region, especially since these Islamic militant groups are linked to Usama Bin Ladin.

Evidence #1:

a) "Prince Nayef, the Saudi Interior Minister, said publicly that although Riyadh had stopped financing militant Islamic groups, individual Saudis were still helping them without the ‘knowledge or consent of the Government’."

b) "Much of the financial support for terrorists who attack Americans, Israelis, and others sympathetic to the West comes from wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf countries allied with the United States, former and current American officials say".

c) "Philip C. Wilcox Jr., the head of the State Department’s counter-terrorism office, recently told Congress that Hamas and Islamic Holy War, (two Palestinian fundamentalist groups based in the Middle East), receive significant support from individuals in the Persian Gulf as well as in the United States."

d) "A Saudi businessman [was] tried last year in Jordan on charges of financially supporting terrorism".

Source #1:

a – d) NEW YORKTIMES, (New York, N.Y.), Aug. 14, 1996, pp. A1+, "Copyright (c) 1996 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission."

"FUNDS FOR TERRORISTS TRACED TO PERSIAN GULF BUSINESSMEN"

Terror Money: A Special Report, by Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller.

 

 

Harm #2:

Usama Bin Ladin has been financially, spiritually, and otherwise supporting terrorist militant Islamic groups in their violent acts of terrorism that spread chaos and increase killings in different regions of the world.

Mr. Bin Ladin refuses to take any responsibility for his actions whatsoever, despite the fact that he has been the center of a lot of recent trouble caused in the region.

Evidence #2:

a) "Mr. Bin Laden told Time magazine this year that the training camps he finances had been set up to help Afghans and that he could not be held responsible for what happens after people leave the camps."

b) "Mr. Bin Laden not only donates his own money to these organizations, but he also solicits contributions from religious businessmen and Islamic leaders who have accumulated their own wealth, the officials added."

c) Mr. Bin Ladin "stepped up his financing of anti-American Islamic groups".

d) "Much of [Mr. Bin Ladin’s] money [is used] to back illegitimate or violent activities, according to investigators"

e) "American intelligence agencies are closely examining the activities of Usama Bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi family stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1994 who finances a host of hard-line [terrorist] groups from Egypt to Algeria."

f) "Officials in several countries, including the United States, say Mr. Bin Ladin’s money, as well as money he has raised, paid for terrorist acts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East against Americans and other Westerners."

g) "The State Department, in a detailed document made public this year, called Mr. Bin Laden ‘one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world.’ It linked him to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and the Sudan and said he supported a group that tried to bomb American servicemen in Yemen in 1992."

h) "Saudi militants who killed five Americans last November in Riyadh said in their confessions that they had been influenced by Mr. Bin Ladin’s thinking."

i) "Of all the private financial sources in the Persian Gulf whose Islamic charity has wound up financing violence and terror, Mr. Bin Laden has long been regarded as such groups’ most committed patron."

j) "The world’s leading financier of terror [is] Usama Bin Ladin."

k) "The US State Department has identified Mr. Bin Ladin as a major world sponsor of Islamic extremism. He is believed to have been a major financier of the two terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia."

Sources #2:

a - i) NEW YORKTIMES, (New York, N.Y.), Aug. 14, 1996, pp. A1+, "Copyright (c) 1996 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission."

"FUNDS FOR TERRORISTS TRACED TO PERSIAN GULF BUSINESSMEN"

Terror Money: A Special Report, by Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller.

j) Orange County Register, Santa Ana, California; June 1, 1997;

"Terrorism: US the Land of Opportunity for Terror Groups"; Cole, Richard.

k) "Usama Bin Ladin Threatens the US on American Television"; June 11, 1998, Vol. 4-162; Macko, Steve’ Erric Risk Analyst; (Emergency Net News).

Harm #3:

Mr. Bin Ladin financially supports, and has many ties with terrorist-sponsoring states, which show their full support for terrorism, especially for anti-American terrorism, highly increasing tensions between the US and countries such as Iran, Syria, and Sudan.

2nd Speaker:

This is a very clear and self-explanatory harm, for Mr. Bin Ladin has been responsible for many anti-American movements, which cause many injuries, and fill people with hatred for the United States. This gravely affects the US’s ties and relationships with other countries.

Evidence #3:

a) "Senator Hatch said that Mr. Bin Laden had ties to terrorism-sponsoring states like Iran, Syria and the Sudan and that one of his groups was represented at what officials suspect was a terrorist planning conference in Tehran, the Iranian capital, in June. The evidence of Mr. Bin Ladin’s involvement in terrorism, officials and the State Department say, ranges from electronic intercepts of conversations to bank transfers to confessions by terrorists. As a result, several countries have put Mr. Bin Laden on their watch lists, meaning that they will deny him a visa if he applies for one.

b) Among the terrorist operations and groups linked by government officials to Mr. Bin Laden are these:

- The killing of Western tourists in Egypt and of Egyptian officials by the Islamic Group, an organization whose members seek to overthrow the Government of Hussni Mubarak.

- Several bombings in France by extremist Islamic Algerians who oppose French ties to Algeria.

- Two hotel bombs in Yemen in 1992 that killed two Australians but were presumably aimed at American soldiers stationed there as part of the American operation in Somalia. Yemen sought help from an international police agency in an unsuccessful effort to apprehend Mr. Bin Laden.

- Terrorist training camps in the Sudan and Afghanistan that train extremists from several North African nations.

- Saudi opposition groups in London."

c) Usama Bin Laden, whose fortune has been estimated at $250 million, has been linked to terrorist groups and operations in Northern Africa, Europe and the Middle East." According to the U.S. State Department, these are some of his activities:

- Islamic extremists who staged the December 1992 attempted bombings against some 100 U.S. servicemen in Yemen, stationed there to support UN relief operations in Somalia, said Mr. Bin Laden financed their group.

- A joint Egyptian-Saudi investigation revealed in May 1993 that Mr. Bin Ladin’s business interests helped funnel money to Egyptian extremists, who used the money to buy unspecified equipment, printing presses and weapons.

- By January 1994, Mr. Bin Ladin had begun financing at least three terrorist training camps in Northern Sudan. Camp residents included Egyptian, Algerian, Tunisian and Palestinian extremists. His Hijrah for Construction and Development works directly with Sudanese military officials to transport and provision terrorist training in such camps.

- Pakistani investigators have said Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing, resided at the Bin Ladin-financed Bait Ashuhada’a (House of Martyrs) guest house in Peshawar, Pakistan, during most of the three years before his apprehension in February 1995.

- A leading member of the Egyptian extremist group Al-Jihad said in a July 1995 interview that Mr. Bin Ladin helped finance the group.

- Mr. Bin Ladin remains the key financial support behind the "Kunar" camp in Afghanistan, which provided terrorist training to Al-Jihad members, according to suspected terrorists captured recently by the Egyptian authorities.

d) "Bin Ladin plays an important role in supporting and enlarging the pool of Islamic fighters known as the ‘Afghan Veterans’. Today a large number of militants in Afghanistan owe allegiance to him. At the same time he maintains extensive ties with a number of international terror organizations in Egypt, India, the Philippines, and elsewhere. These organizations enjoy the use of Bin Ladin's funding, his training camps, and possibly even his many companies around the world."

Sources #3:

a - c) NEW YORKTIMES, (New York, N.Y.), Aug. 14, 1996, pp. A1+, "Copyright (c) 1996 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission."

"FUNDS FOR TERRORISTS TRACED TO PERSIAN GULF BUSINESSMEN"

Terror Money: A Special Report, by Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller.

d) "Usama Bin Ladin: Wealth plus Extremism Equals Terrorism"; Schweitzer, Yoram, ICT Research Fellow; July 27, 1998.

www.ict.org.il/articles/bin-ladin.htm

Next, let me go on to identifying the needs necessary to terminate the dangerous nature of these harms:

Need #1:

The US needs an inspection organization that would closely monitor money transfer operations to and from Saudi Arabia.

2nd Speaker:

International funds and bonds entering and leaving Saudi Arabia need to be closely monitored by this inspection organizations, (or voluntary inspection organizations that are appointed by the United States). Saudi civilians’ money and assets in Swiss Banks need to be temporarily frozen if Saudi Arabia refuses to comply with these conditions.

Need #2:

The US needs a foreign policy that would impose sanctions on countries that host Mr. Bin Ladin to show the countries the solemnity of aiding, supporting, and protecting international terrorists or international sponsors of terrorism.

2nd Speaker:

Mr. Bin Ladin’s money and assets in all world banks need to be frozen so that he can no longer financially support or aid terrorists and terrorist groups and militias.

Need #3:

The US needs a foreign policy that would impose sanctions on all terrorist-sponsoring states and states that accommodate terrorists and terrorist groups that are supported, financially or otherwise, by Mr. Bin Ladin; especially due to the hatred for the US that Mr. Bin Ladin fills these countries with. For he provides them with the capabilities of killing and striking against Americans.

Next, allow me to provide the planks that will satisfy the above-mentioned needs:

Plank #1:

The US will pass a bill in Congress that will found a new agency called Money Operations Monitoring Agency (MOMA).

Plank #2:

The Money Transfer Monitoring Agency will take charge of monitoring the sources, origins, and destinations of any money transfer operations, the shift of funds, and the exchange of bonds that are suspected of having anything to do with terrorism and the financing of terrorist groups in Saudi Arabia.

2nd Speaker:

The same procedures will be adopted for all other nations or states of the Arabian Gulf region that are suspected of aiding terrorist movements directly or indirectly.

Plank #3:

If something relevant turns up, the US will immediately take action and will trace any money linked to terrorists either directly or indirectly. The US will either request the Government of Saudi Arabia to place the people involved under arrest or the US will take care of arresting them itself if Saudi Arabia does not comply with the evidence produced by the US. If necessary, the US military troops currently posted in Saudi Arabia will take care of arresting them in case Saudi Arabia does not comply.

Plank #4:

The US Attorney will issue a warrant for Mr. Bin Ladin’s arrest on charges of killing many civilians in different regions of the world.

Plank #5:

Any GCC nation(s) found guilty of hosting Mr. Bin Ladin will endure a tax on it’s/their oil exports, (i.e. importers of that nation(s) exported oil will pay a tax per barrel of oil). This tax will be set at $1 per barrel.

 

 

 

2nd Speaker:

This will gravely affect the economy of the country, for GCC countries sell 9,734,000 barrels of oil per day. Altogether, they get a profit of $281,000,000 per day. This tax will increase the price that importers of GCC oil pay by $9,754,580 per day. Therefore, these importers will refrain from buying from the taxed country, thus negatively affecting the economy of the country hosting Mr. Bin Ladin.

Sources:

One) www.opec.org/members/Kuwait.htm

Two) www.opec.org/members/SaudiArabia.htm

Three) www.opec.org/members/Qatar.htm

Four) www.opec.org/members/UAE.htm

Five) The Arab World. Sixth Edition. 1999-2000.Copyright: Educational and Curricular Research Center. Kuwait. Al-Abdul-Razzaq, Dr. Fatema and Al-Ibrahim, Abdul-Hadi.

Plank #6:

This tax will remain posted until the authorities of the nation hosting Mr. Bin Ladin take him into their custody on charges of killing many civilians in different regions of the world and hand him over to US authorities.

Plank #7:

Mr. Bin Ladin’s money will be derived from his account to fund this plan by passing a bill in the US Congress using evidence derived from the various sources of this plan. For this would give the US the right to take control of his assets. This money will mainly be used to finance and properly equip the inspection organizations and agencies.

Significance:

This plan will be adopted and is highly crucial because it insures the current avoidance and cease of terrorism and the future termination of all acts of terrorism and all terrorist groups in the Arabian Gulf region and many other regions of the world. Especially since Mr. Bin Ladin has been responsible for thousands of killings.

Evidence:

a) Mr. Bin Ladin has been responsible for the bombings that occurred in the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, which "[killed] more than 700 people and [injured] nearly 6,000.

b) "USAMA BIN LADEN IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE AUGUST 7, 1998, BOMBINGS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA AND NAIROBI, KENYA. THESE ATTACKS KILLED OVER 200 PEOPLE."

c) "Usama bin Laden, named by U.S. officials as a prime suspect in two deadly bombings in Saudi Arabia, is a renegade businessman who has warned of a holy war against Americans in the homeland of Islam."

d) "24 American military personnel and two Indians were killed in the blasts in Riyadh last November, [for which Usama Bin Ladin was responsible] and at a barracks in the eastern city of Al-Khobar in June".

e) "Bin Ladin's name has come up in connection with a number of terror attacks around the world, among them the attacks in Riyadh (November 95) and Dhahran (June 96), that left about 30 people dead, including 24 Americans. He is also implicated in the attacks on a Yemenite hotel (December 92) that injured several tourists; the assassination attempt on Egyptian president Mubarak in Ethiopia (June 95); the World Trade Center bombing (February 93) that killed 3 and injured hundreds. [Also] the Somali attack on American forces that left hundreds wounded."

Sources:

a) U.S. Department of State Web site,

www.statev/www/global/terroris/1998Report

a) A Global Agenda: Issues Before the 54th General Assembly; 1999-2000 Edition; Tessitore, John and Woolfson, Susan; Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 1999: New York.

b) www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/laden.htm

c - d) "Saudi Bomb Suspect is Anti-U.S. Financier"; Friday, October 25, 1999; 4:55 AM EDT; DUBAI (Reuters)

http://suc.suc.org/~kosta/tar/islam/Osama.bin.Laden.1.html

e) "Usama Bin Ladin: Wealth plus Extremism Equals Terrorism"; Schweitzer, Yoram, ICT Research Fellow; July 27, 1998.

www.ict.org.il/articles/bin-ladin.htm

Inherent Block:

The inherent block in this plan is mostly attitudinal. For countries such as Saudi Arabia would not have agreed to countries such as the United States messing around with its financial statistics and other information concerning Saudi Arabia and not other nations.

This plan proposes the good-for-all interference of the US, (after presenting evidence to KSA proving its ties to Mr. Bin Ladin). For according to the first harm of this plan and its evidence, Saudi Arabia itself is not aware of the reality of this situation. It is also attitudinal due to the fact that Saudi Arabia does not want to arrest Usama Bin Ladin, for he is an ex-Saudi citizen and he comes from one of the wealthiest families in KSA.

Evidence:

"But the issue [of Usama Bin Ladin] is delicate for [Saudi Arabia]. In Islam, the line between giving to religious, as opposed to political, causes is often blurred."

Source:

NEW YORKTIMES, (New York, N.Y.), Aug. 14, 1996, pp. A1+, "Copyright (c) 1996 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission."

"FUNDS FOR TERRORISTS TRACED TO PERSIAN GULF BUSINESSMEN"

Terror Money: A Special Report, by Jeff Gerth and Judith Miller.

Funding:

"Estimates put [Mr. Bin Ladin’s] fortune at more than $250 million", (Miller, Judith). In accordance to Plank #7, this money will be used to fund this plan. After major and hefty research, it was concluded that the overall total cost of our plan is going to be $246.5 million. This money will mainly be used to finance and properly equip the inspection organizations and agencies, and it will also be used to issue a warrant for Mr. Bin Ladin’s arrest and bringing him to justice and try him.

Details, (only if challenged):

For according to the 1999-2000 Edition of the Global Agenda, Criminal Justice costs the UN $6.2 million, this is a basic rough estimate that revolves around the same goal in our plan through bringing Mr. Bin Ladin to justice. "Estimates of the overall legal costs, taking into account two full Lords hearings, have been made at $9 million." This amount would be enough for the US to try Mr. Bin Ladin since he will be tried for killings, and General Pinochet was also tried for killings. The final estimate of the funding has been derived from the funding needed for the UN Office of Central Support Services, which is a similar agency with similar tasks, and its yearly funding is $231.3 million.

Sources:

a) "The Cost of Keeping Pinochet"; 1999;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/10/98/the_pinochet_file/newsid_302000/302512.stm

b) A Global Agenda: Issues Before the 54th General Assembly; 1999-2000 Edition; Tessitore, John and Woolfson, Susan; Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 1999: New York.

Working Model #1:

"In the area of terrorist financing, a draft working document submitted by France actively contemplates a penal justice regime, defining as an ‘offense’ the unlawful and intentional financing of a person or organization that is known to commit, or is prepared to commit, a broad series of offences, including taking hostages, hijacking, or causing death or serious bodily injury to a civilian. The draft would require states to establish as criminal offences under their domestic law the offences outlawed by the convention."

This working model shows that a country hosting a terrorist or a sponsor of terrorism can take necessary procedures to arrest and take into custody the terrorist or the sponsor of terrorism in accordance to the country’s own laws and jurisdiction.

Sources #1:

a) Working Document A/AC.252/L.7, cited in the U.N. press release L/2914, 3/10/99.

b) A Global Agenda: Issues Before the 54th General Assembly; 1999-2000 Edition; Tessitore, John and Woolfson, Susan; Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 1999: New York.

Working Model #2:

General Manuel Noriega "was taken to stand trial in the USA, where he was found guilty of criminal activities."

Source #2:

The Guinness Encyclopedia New Edition. Guinness Publishing Ltd. Great Britain: 1995. Crofton, Ian.

Working Model #3:

General Augusto Pinochet, former Chilean dictator, stood trial in the United Kingdom on charges of killing Spaniards, amongst others, in Chile during his reign.

Source #3:

a) "The Cost of Keeping Pinochet"; 1999;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/10/98/the_pinochet_file/newsid_302000/302512.stm