In Capitalism everything is a business and everything generates profit for somebody. People forget that terrorism is not an exception.Whether covertly or openly, there are those who have profitted from terorism. In western governments the corrupt have profitted from cimes such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, racketeering, etc. Likewise, there are those in western society who have profitted from terrorism.

Then Bin Laden family is one of the rishest families in the world and Osama Bin Laden raised funds for his terrorist operations by bringing cheap weapons to war-torn African countries and exchanging them for blood diamonds. Then those diamonds were brought to Europe where they were sold at high prices. Osama Bin Laden made a fortune, and so did De Beers, the big diamond monopoly, and all those "commodities traders" who bought and sold diamonds for profit.

After the Sep. 11 attack, weapons manufacturers made superprofits by selling weapons to both domestic and foreign markets. Very often the same weapons that are used by Coalition forces also end up being sold to Al Qaida fighters through the black markets.

Security firms have made a bundle by selling security systems, scanning sytems, consulting services, security "guards" (mercenaries), etc. Mercenaries is the old name, now we call them "security contractors".

"Oil service" companies have made a fortune in "reconstruction". In the first year of the war Haliburton made US $38 billion in profit by selling mostly water and foods to the military, as well as putting out oil well fires, rebuilding pipelines, etc.

Of course, the media have made a fortune. News organization, TV and cable channels, even filmmakers have profitted from the war on terror.

In general, the higher the "level of terror" and the "security threat", the higher the profits from terrorism have been. The more paranoia is sown in the population, the bigger the profits. It is why western governments have shown every interest in feeding public paranoia. When those at the top are running the companies that make the most money, they have every interest in using terrorism for profit.