Blacklist Those Who Do Business With Terrorists
By Edwin Black
Tuesday, September 25, 2001; Page A23
It is universally agreed that the protracted war underway will also require combat against the finances, technology assets and freedom of movement afforded the terrorists. To do so means blacklisting the economic and technological capability of international terrorism. Legal blacklisting was exactly the technique the Allies used during the Hitler-era to frustrate, and often deny, Nazis the commerce they required. To varying degree, the Allies were successful.
Blacklisting goes beyond "trading with the enemy" measures because it extends to all those who may directly or indirectly cooperate, sympathize or provide "aid and comfort" to the enemy, regardless of their location in the world.
The United States only entered World War II in December 1941 after Pearl Harbor. But several months before that, on July 17, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, expecting war in Europe, ordered the Treasury and the secretary of state to jointly create a blacklist of those aiding or abetting Nazi Germany. America's "Black List" was known as the "Proclaimed List" and included any nation, company or person deemed "detrimental to the interests of national defense." Immediately after Pearl Harbor, the number of blacklisted companies and individuals catapulted. It grew from 1,800 in the summer of 1941 to 5,000 European and Latin American companies by mid-January 1942. Of course, all direct trading with Germany and Italy was prohibited.
A broader World War II Treasury regulation required a "license" just to communicate with certain territories considered directly or indirectly under Nazi domination. Thus, to conduct business with certain parts of Europe, American firms were required to first obtain a "license" to communicate, outlining the purpose of the contact, and then additionally to consult the Proclaimed List for blacklisted entities.
America and its allies can now realistically cripple the economic and technological capability of named terrorist individuals and organizations, as well as those countries such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Egypt that shelter and cater to them. No one can obtain a satellite cellphone account without a credit check, and accounts are often terminated if users are one day late with payments. Stock brokerage firms manage huge portfolios for market-savvy terrorists. Evidence now indicates the terrorists may have shorted insurance stocks. The point is, prompt payment, good profits and business as usual can no longer be the governing force in this war on terrorism.
America and its anti-terrorist allies can revive the precedent of World War II: License communications to countries that harbor terrorists, and certify a list of blacklisted names. But this time, we need to plug the loopholes of globalization that the World War II financial warriors were not sophisticated enough to detect. All foreign subsidiaries must be reined in.
Civilized commerce must be denied to the uncivilized among us.
is the author of "IBM and the Holocaust."