Al Qeada's primary financing came from honey, heroin, the stock market, counterfeiting, hostage-taking (the number one source of terrorist funding worldwide, a close match with drug money for top place), charities, the hawala system, and a multitude of schemes carried out by its operatives involving everything from check kiting to forgery.
The PLO, on the other hand, gets a lot of money from oil since the oil producing states would rather have the palestinians in Israel's hair than in theirs.
Oil is a minor part of the problem when it comes to the funding of terrorism- but it is a HUGE part fo the problem in that it twists the way oil-dependent nations deal with countries in the middle east. Instead of acting forcefully when people mess with us, we have to worry about the 'feelings' of those nearby nations which have a say in how much oil the US or its trading partners can buy. We wouldn't have to worry about any country's 'feelings' if our people were not worried about the occasional oil crunch, becuase it is the American politicians' need please the constituency on economics that makes them so sensitive to the oil market- not the oil itself. All politics IS local. Americans think only of their wallets and purses, but are too stupid to realize that the taxes made neccessary by the American desire for economic 'security' and a safety net have a bigger adverse effect on our wallets and national economic success than the price of oil ever could.
Thank you for the additional information. What ever the source of their money, we need to where possible stop it, or at least slow it down. It will not be easy, but it is not impossible.
I do think your statement that "Americans think only of their wallets.." is a little much. Certainly some are only concern with what it will cost them, but not all. And certainly the men and women on the front lines today who put their life on the line are not thinking only of their wallets. When the crunch comes, the American people will be willing to pay the price to put an end to these terroist thugs.
As for why they hate us, I don't care. Let them hate me as much as they want, but when they turn their hate into action and American citizens begin to die, I want them to pay a very heavy price even if it means more taxes.