Though others on the list, which were rarely heard about before September 11th, were not left out. Hamas, Hizballah (Party of God), Al-Jihad, The Armed Islamic Group, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and many more, are all focused upon.

The report states they see a decline in state sponsored terrorism; certain countries are still focused on in the report. Iran and Iraq, both countries President Bush states as part of an 'axis of evil' in his State of the Union address, also got their prize of being listed.

"The Islamist groups remain generally the most active, stating as their main objective the overthrow of secular, pro-Western governments, the derailment of the Arab-Israeli peace process, the expulsion of U.S. forces from the region, or the end of what they consider unjust occupation of Muslim lands" says the report. With their objectives listed, the CRS in their report detailed what assets were frozen for each Foreign Terrorist Organization, or as the report called them, FTO.

A table listing the terrorist organizations by 'Activity Level', shows only one group as being 'Extremely High', which is undoubtedly, Al Qaeda. Second on the list, with a level of 'Very High', was Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic group. The rest ranged from a level of 'High' to 'Very Low'.

As each of these groups are then analyzed, a few down on the list, Al Qaeda received it's turn. "Over the past six years, [Al-Qaeda] (Arabic for 'the base'), the network of [Osama Bin Laden], has evolved from a regional threat to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf to a global threat to U.S. citizens and national security interests" the section begins. "Financially, [Al Qaeda] draws on the personal fortune of [Bin Laden], estimated at about $300 million." Though with that amount of financial backing, the CRS pointed out in the 'Blocked Assets' section for Al Qaeda, that no assets were blocked or frozen at all. Before September 11th, one day even, there was no indication Bin Laden had any funds anywhere. The United States was at a loss for where his money actually was.

"U.S. officials say they are encouraging other governments to help dismantle [Bin Laden]'s financial empire and they have persuaded Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to end the handling of some of [Bin Laden]’s money by a few of their banks." Seems like a day too late, the assets of this terrorist remained available for flight schools, plane tickets, and whatever else was needed.

On the contrary, "About $254 million in assets of the Taliban movement are blocked under Executive order 13129, issued in July 1999 on the grounds that the Taliban continued to harbor [Bin Laden]". The Taliban, a name that received much publicity in the past few months, was said at the time of this report, controlled 90% of Afghanistan, but was apparently not linked to Al Qaeda and it's activities. Controlling now none of Afghanistan, the Taliban lies in shambles, along with the Al Qaeda organization based in Afghanistan.

Yet with the Congressional research organization CRS publishing a detailed report on these terrorist organizations, and government intelligence agencies working around the clock to stop such terror, this report came one day prior to the biggest terrorist strike on U.S. soil, in it's history. The final question might have to be, "How safe do you feel?"

Extended Information:

Terrorism: Near Eastern Groups and State Sponsors - http://www.bvalphaserver.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=266