Saturday, February 18, 2017
The Islamic State Is Almost Broke
Republic/AP: Islamic State group’s ‘business model’ near collapse
The Islamic State group is hemorrhaging money with every piece of territory it loses, according to a new analysis that found that the group’s “business model” is on the path to failure.
The analysis released Saturday by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence and the accounting firm EY found that the self-proclaimed caliphate’s financial resources have been drained substantially since the days beginning in mid-2014 when it captured banks, oil wells and entire warehouses of weapons as it amassed land.
The report found that Islamic State revenue has declined from up to $1.9 billion in 2014 to at most $870 million in 2016.
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WNU Editor: The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence report on the deteriorating finances of the islamci State is here.
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2 comments:
The epitaph for ISIS may be premature. After all this is a VERY tough enemy that is VERY adaptable.
Ultimately it will be written though. When it is finally written it will read something like "here lies a political entity that while it proved one of the most formidable military forces the world has ever known once it gained territory it was never able to adjust to behaving like a normal nation state."
I must say the current state of ISIS is a vast difference from what it once was. When it first arose to power, it captured and held territory faster and more efficiently than the United States ever could have even before it's military was worn down. Had ISIS been able to adjust to behaving like a normal state ISIS arguably could have been the dominant force in the Middle East and beyond for decades.
Of course had nations such as the United States and its "allies" not underestimated this enemy from the start perhaps it could have been crushed in the proverbial cradle. Again, this is a very tough enemy and it may be premature to write the epitaph. Unfortunately some refuse to learn and continue to underestimate this enemy.
"When it first arose to power, it captured and held territory faster and more efficiently than the United States ever could have even before it's military was worn down."
Only because it didn't face any real opposition. In Syria, most of the eastern regions were already out of government control, and were basically lawless regions controlled by various Islamist factions, rebel groups or Kurdish militias. Raqqa was taken by the al-Nusra Front in 2013, and the following year ISIL took over.
In Iraq, the opposition was also in shambles already. ISIL flooded into Sunni cities and the hated, mostly Shia "security forces" fled.
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