Insurgency's supply routes

Matthew Levitt, Director at The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, analyzes the often-overlooked economic angle of insurgents' use of third party countries for training, fundraising, and transit using Syria as an example for Iragi insurgents. In a Perspectives of Terrorism article, Foreign Fighters and Their Economic Impact: A Case Study of Syria and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the author states that shutting down the facilitation networks to starve the insurgency of its supply of material, funds and manpower while expanding the legitimate economy to compensate for the contraction of the illicit economy were critical components of any counter-insurgency campaign.