Following up on David Nordell's post on CTF intelligence thwarting the recent airline bombing plot, I'd like to point out that Evan Kohlmann has a good post with further detail about this at the Counterterrorism Blog. He also links to an excellent paper that I am adding to the resources section of this site.
I would point out that such cynical use of humanitarian aid by terrorists is not new. Hizballah exploited the 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran, to re-arm. According to media reports, the transport planes that flew into Iran from everywhere (except Israel, whose assistance Iran refused) did not return empty:
According to Israeli military intelligence, the planes returned to Syria carrying sophisticated weapons, including long-range Zelzal missiles, which the Syrians passed on to Hezbollah, the Shiite militia group in southern Lebanon that Iran created and sponsors.
I wonder if this was ever investigated by a regulatory body, and if not, why not.
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