At a September 8 all-day conference on American security since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, AEI scholars and distinguished guests spoke about intelligence, global strategies, criminal justice, and homeland security, identifying strengths and weaknesses and recommending new strategies for success.

Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Department of the Treasury, said that the ability to track terrorists through their financial dealings and interrupt their schemes is as important as military operations in the War on Terror. During his keynote speech, Levey described how the United States disrupts terrorists' financial networks and offered examples of progress in North Korea and Iran.

"Counterterrorism and security policy has traditionally been the province of foreign affairs, defense, intelligence, and law enforcement officials--not finance ministers," Levey remarked. "But finance ministries worldwide are now working closely with the traditional security ministries to meet each government’s first responsibility: ensuring the safety of its citizens."

Even though a security role may seem counterintuitive for the Treasury, the department is well-equipped to fight terrorism. Terrorists rely upon sophisticated financial networks. While they may find ways to hide their movements and muzzle their communications, their financial records cannot be erased. "Money trails do not lie. Financial intelligence is uniquely reliable; it allows us to track threats, as well as to deter and disrupt them," said Levey.

Levey’s office has designated over forty registered charities as supporters of terrorism, exposing the front organizations that terrorists use to fund their operations. He also spoke about the Treasury’s recently revealed Terrorist Finance Tracking Program: "While the details remain classified, I can attest that this program has been instrumental in identifying and capturing terrorists and their financiers, and in attacking terrorist-supporting charities." The Treasury also works with other finance ministries to track terrorist financing. Levey announced that he would soon visit Europe for first-of-their-kind meetings with his counterparts abroad.

The financial front in the war has led to action against both North Korea and Iran. The United States cut North Korea off from access to U.S. financial markets, and the Treasury also blacklisted a major offshore bank in Macau that laundered money to North Korea.

Levey also announced the blacklisting of one of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, Bank Saderat. Iran uses Saderat to fund Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist organizations. "For example, since 2001, a Hezbollah-controlled organization received $50 million directly from Iran through Saderat," Levey said. "We will no longer allow a bank like Saderat to do business in the American financial system, even indirectly." The announcement of Saderat’s blacklisting was reported by print representatives, covered by television news, and picked up by wire services worldwide.

As an additional tactic in the War on Terror, Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations recommended a renewed focus on democracy promotion, arguing that it is more important to "dry up the swamp" that creates terrorists than to seek out "individual evildoers." AEI’s Frederick W. Kagan counseled against thinking of the current conflict in revolutionary or millennial terms, but rather as a set of problems that have been faced before.

Additional speakers identified deficiencies in the current homeland security infrastructure and outlined means of improvement. Clark Ervin of the Aspen Institute criticized what he called the "underfunding" of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and also said that air cargo and seaports still have significant security weaknesses. The Brookings Institution’s Michael O'Hanlon recommended stepped-up border patrols and new programs to improve private-sector readiness. Robert Powell of the University of California at Berkeley said that DHS must prepare future strategies rather than focus on past attacks.

The final panel addressed questions of law and order and was moderated by visiting fellow Fred Thompson. Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute asserted that the Bush administration’s recently leaked government wiretapping program was illegal, but that FISA, the statute governing the program, is flawed and needs to be repealed. Jeremy Rabkin of Cornell University offered a historical perspective, claiming that we have set constitutional standards for ourselves that are far higher than those of previous generations in times of war. Finally, AEI’s John Yoo criticized what he sees as an inordinate level of judicial involvement in wartime decision-making. In the past, he said, judges rarely--if ever--set parameters for handling enemy combatants; today, such rulings are common.