There is growing evidence in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond that al Qaeda and its allies are newly flush with cash, able to buy new weapons, more sophisticated communications equipment and deadlier and more complex explosives. This contradicts the more optimistic public assesments Bush administration officials, who continue to assert that the financial war on Islamic radicals is going well. For one of the best recent assessments of the situation, consistant with what my sources are telling me, can be found in recent Knight-Ridder reporting here. The reporting also outlines the growing links among radical Islamists in the two fronts of their war.

This expansion and procurement takes money, and is taking place against the backdrop of an insurgency in Iraq that has steadily grown more sophisticated in its manufacture of explosive devices and weapons used on the ground. This, too, takes money. Some in the military intelligence community believe there is serious cross-training going on among the combatants in Afghanistan and the Islamist mujahadeen in Iraq, and again this is a considerable cost. Finding the source of that money and slowing it down will be key to keeping the insurgencies in both countries from gaining more ground.

One of the most worrisome factors, according to sources working on the ground in Pakistan and Afghanistan, is the role played by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his Hizb-e-Islami party in the protection and arming of the Taliban and al Qaeda. Hekmatyar fled to Iran when the Taliban took over, but returned after their defeat by coalition forces and, in fine Afghani style, allied himself with his erstwhile enemies. Hekmatyar poses a serious problem in addition to his wealth, power and sympathies to the most radical elements of al Qaeda. He remains very close to the regime in Tehran that gave him asylum and now supplies him with weapons, intelligence and money. To continue reading, go here.