Executive Order 13224

Executive Order 13224 (EO 13224)&mdash;"Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism"&mdash;was signed by President George W. Bush on September 23, 2001. At the time, the EO gave the U.S. Government what it described as "a powerful tool to impede terrorist funding and [was] part of our national commitment to lead the international effort to bring a halt to the evil of terrorist activity." 

Bush's Authority Struck Down
On November 21, 2006, U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins "struck down President Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutional and vague." In the ruling made public November 29, 2006, Collins said that the "order gave the president 'unfettered discretion' to label groups without giving them a way to challenge the designations." 

Collins, who "two years ago invalidated portions of the U.S. Patriot Act, rejected several sections of Bush's Executive Order 13224 and enjoined the government from blocking the assets of two foreign groups." Collins also "let stand sections that would penalize those who provide 'services' to designated terrorist groups," saying that "such services would include the humanitarian aid and rights training proposed by the plaintiffs." 

EO Details
"President Bush issued Executive Order 13224 pursuant to the authorities of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c)(UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code," a December 20, 2002, State Department Fact Sheet states. "In issuing Executive Order 13224, President Bush declared a national emergency to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, including the terrorist attacks in New York and Pennsylvania, and on the Pentagon committed on September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on U.S. nationals or the United States."

The EO "authorizes the Secretary of State to designate foreign entities and individuals that he determines – in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security – to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." 

Threat List
An Annex to the EO includes a list, "updated regularly, of terrorists and groups identified under E.O. 13224."

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
 * National Council of Resistance of Iran
 * Office of Foreign Assets Control
 * Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
 * war on terrorism