Matthew Levitt

I don't think I've ever met John Ratcliffe and I certainly didn't associate John Ratcliffe name with this, what seems clear is that Matthew Levitt has made broad brush descriptions of Matthew Levitt role in this.

It not only means that American institutions can't do business with those entities... but it also threatens to cut off anybody who continues to provide them services from the U.S. financial system, the more designations that come out, the more meat, the more power, the more strength it gives to the legislation.

We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system.

There has been in the past few years an increase in production in Syria and Lebanon, there are reports that some of this has been used to finance some of the fighters, jihadi groups, in Syria.

They don't have the wherewithal, the skill set and the materials... by Matthew Levitt

They don't have the wherewithal, the skill set and the materials to repair the oil wells themselves.

You'd want those to be available ultimately for the legitimate governments that could follow, but that's just not on the horizon right now. And meanwhile the Islamic State is making a lot of money.

It also does really freak out U.S. government military and law enforcement personnel, it certainly does create a further sense of threat.

Even if this is not so advanced. by Matthew Levitt

Even if this is not so advanced.

Iran has plenty of money right now to be able to fund those foreign policy projects that it considers to be of core interest, even if it doesn't have all the funds in the budget.

It's the idea that if you hurt one Muslim in any part of the world, it's incumbent upon a Muslim ... to do something about it.

We see in them (concepts from) al-Awlaki’s statements and other w... by Matthew Levitt

We see in them (concepts from) al-Awlaki’s statements and other writings from the radicalizers.

This is actually not about Israel, for the first time in a long t... by Matthew Levitt

This is actually not about Israel, for the first time in a long time.

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