http://fortunascorner.com/2014/09/14/oil-theft-and-extortion-how-isis-earns-3mday-richest-terrorist-group-in-world-history/
OIL, THEFT, AND EXTORTION: HOW ISIS EARNS $3M/DAY; RICHEST TERRORIST GROUP IN WORLD HISTORY Oil, Theft, And Extortion: How ISIS Earns $3M A Day And Is The Richest Terrorist Group In World History http://www.fortunascorner.wordpress.com The Associated Press’s Ken Dilanian, in an article out this afternoon, writes that the Islamic State, once largely dependent on wealthy Gulf donors…”have become a self-sustaining, financial juggernaut — earning more than $3M per day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion,” according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts.” The extremist group’s resources exceed that “of any other terrorist group in history,” said a U.S. intelligence official who, like others interviewed [by the AP], spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified documents. Mr. Dilanian writes that “the Islamic State has taken over large sections of Syria and Iraq, and controls as many as 11 oil fields in both countries,” analysts say. “It is selling oil and other through generations-old smuggling networks under the noses of some of the same governments it is fighting: Kurdish controlled northern Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan,” Mr. Dilanian added. “There’s a lot of money to be made,” said Denise Natali, who worked in Kurdistan as an American official; and, now is a Senior Research Fellow at National Defense University. “The Kurds say they have made an attempt to close it down; but, you pay off a border guard or somebody else…and, you get stuff through. Mr. Dilanian notes that “the price the Islamic State fetches for its smuggled oil, is discounted -$25 to $60 per barrel — that would normally sell for more than $100 (not right now) — but, it’s total profits from oil are exceeding $3M a day,” said Luay al-Khatteeb, a Visiting Fellow at the Brooking’s Institution’s Doha Center in Qatar. “The territory that the Islamic State controls in Iraq alone is currently producing anywhere from 25K to 40K barrels of oil a day, which can fetch a minimum of $1.2M on the black market. “The key gateway through that black market is the southern corridor of Turkey. Turkey is becoming part of this “black economy, that funds ISIS” Mr. Khatteeb added. “The group has also earned hundreds of millions of dollars from smuggling antiquities out of Iraq to be sold in Turkey,” al-Khatteeb said, and “millions more from human trafficking — selling women and children as sex slaves.” “Other revenue comes from extortion payments, ransom from kidnapped hostages, and outright theft of all manner of materials from the towns the Islamic State has seized,” analysts said, according to Mr. Dilanian. “It’s cash-raising activities resemble those of a mafia-like organization,” a second U.S. intelligence official said. “They are well-organized, systematic, and enforced through intimidation and violence.” “Even prior to seizing Mosul in June, for example, the group began to “impose” taxes on nearly every facet of economic activity, threatening death to those unwilling to pay,” U.S. intelligence officials said. A recent analysis by The Council On Foreign Relations, estimated the group was reaping $8M per month from extortion in Mosul alone. “Once the group took over Mosul in northern Iraq, and other areas, it grabbed millions of dollars in cash from banks; though, not the hundreds of millions initially reported. The Islamic State has managed to successfully translate territorial control in northern Syria, and portions of Iraq into a means of revenue generation,” said a third U.S. intelligence official. Targeting ISIS Funding Network Proves Major Challenge “Targeting the smuggling network has proved a major challenge, and so far the Turkish authorities have been unwilling to cooperate. They’ve been turning a blind eye to it, because they benefit from the lower price of smuggled black-market oil,” said James Phillips, the Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Turkey is clearly a center of gravity to substantially negate ISIS’s funding; but, thus far Ankara is not fully onboard with U.S. efforts to cutoff ISIS’s black-market activities. The U.S. Treasury Department, on August 6, announced it was imposing sanctions on three key terrorists financiers — including an individual who allegedly helped ISIS transfer funds from Kuwait to Syria; and, has helped pay for foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq, according to CBS News. V/R, RCP Page 1 OIL, THEFT, AND EXTORTION: HOW ISIS EARNS $3M/DAY; RICHEST TERRORIST GROUP IN WORLD HISTORY Oil, Theft, And Extortion: How ISIS Earns $3M A Day And Is The Richest Terrorist Group In World History http://www.fortunascorner.wordpress.com The Associated Press’s Ken Dilanian, in an article out this afternoon, writes that the Islamic State, once largely dependent on wealthy Gulf donors…”have become a self-sustaining, financial juggernaut — earning more than $3M per day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion,” according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts.” The extremist group’s resources exceed that “of any other terrorist group in history,” said a U.S. intelligence official who, like others interviewed [by the AP], spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified documents. Mr. Dilanian writes that “the Islamic State has taken over large sections of Syria and Iraq, and controls as many as 11 oil fields in both countries,” analysts say. “It is selling oil and other through generations-old smuggling networks under the noses of some of the same governments it is fighting: Kurdish controlled northern Iraq, Turkey, and Jordan,” Mr. Dilanian added. “There’s a lot of money to be made,” said Denise Natali, who worked in Kurdistan as an American official; and, now is a Senior Research Fellow at National Defense University. “The Kurds say they have made an attempt to close it down; but, you pay off a border guard or somebody else…and, you get stuff through. Mr. Dilanian notes that “the price the Islamic State fetches for its smuggled oil, is discounted -$25 to $60 per barrel — that would normally sell for more than $100 (not right now) — but, it’s total profits from oil are exceeding $3M a day,” said Luay al-Khatteeb, a Visiting Fellow at the Brooking’s Institution’s Doha Center in Qatar. “The territory that the Islamic State controls in Iraq alone is currently producing anywhere from 25K to 40K barrels of oil a day, which can fetch a minimum of $1.2M on the black market. “The key gateway through that black market is the southern corridor of Turkey. Turkey is becoming part of this “black economy, that funds ISIS” Mr. Khatteeb added. “The group has also earned hundreds of millions of dollars from smuggling antiquities out of Iraq to be sold in Turkey,” al-Khatteeb said, and “millions more from human trafficking — selling women and children as sex slaves.” “Other revenue comes from extortion payments, ransom from kidnapped hostages, and outright theft of all manner of materials from the towns the Islamic State has seized,” analysts said, according to Mr. Dilanian. “It’s cash-raising activities resemble those of a mafia-like organization,” a second U.S. intelligence official said. “They are well-organized, systematic, and enforced through intimidation and violence.” “Even prior to seizing Mosul in June, for example, the group began to “impose” taxes on nearly every facet of economic activity, threatening death to those unwilling to pay,” U.S. intelligence officials said. A recent analysis by The Council On Foreign Relations, estimated the group was reaping $8M per month from extortion in Mosul alone. “Once the group took over Mosul in northern Iraq, and other areas, it grabbed millions of dollars in cash from banks; though, not the hundreds of millions initially reported. The Islamic State has managed to successfully translate territorial control in northern Syria, and portions of Iraq into a means of revenue generation,” said a third U.S. intelligence official. Targeting ISIS Funding Network Proves Major Challenge “Targeting the smuggling network has proved a major challenge, and so far the Turkish authorities have been unwilling to cooperate. They’ve been turning a blind eye to it, because they benefit from the lower price of smuggled black-market oil,” said James Phillips, the Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at The Heritage Foundation. Turkey is clearly a center of gravity to substantially negate ISIS’s funding; but, thus far Ankara is not fully onboard with U.S. efforts to cutoff ISIS’s black-market activities. The U.S. Treasury Department, on August 6, announced it was imposing sanctions on three key terrorists financiers — including an individual who allegedly helped ISIS transfer funds from Kuwait to Syria; and, has helped pay for foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq, according to CBS News. V/R, RCP __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdm12MmUyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MTA3MzM0ODU-> [image: Yahoo! 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