Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf group are -- were affiliates of al Qaeda, to include sanctuary that was being provided for purposes of financing and other endeavors.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing with Ben Rhodes and Admiral Robert Willard

The two firms are the industry leaders in the (once) lucrative business of providing hedge funds with financing, lending them shares for short-selling purposes, settling trades and housing fund assets.

ECONOMIST: Where will hedge funds put their business in future?

They have borrowed not only for their own direct purposes to build public works and housing but also for enterprises known as local-government financing vehicles, whose businesses often have a low rate of return.

WSJ: Philip Bowring: China Needs a 1997-Style Crisis

Such issues by state and local governments and authorities, many of them tax-exempt, are used for public purposes such as schools, sewers and water systems-financing projects often launched by elected officials and closely scrutinized by taxpayers.

WSJ: Goldman Officers Go on Charm Offensive

Assuming Soviet earnings are earmarked for these two purposes, the West is -- through undisciplined lending practices -- unwittingly financing a large portion of the Soviet empire's remaining hard currency requirements at a multibillion dollar annual cost to Western taxpayers in higher defense and foreign assistance spending.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy