The Independent quotes Julieta
Valls Noyes, the deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs during a visit to London, that ISIS was making $2 million a day
off oil sales and that the US would consider airstrikes as well as
“kinetic strikes against some pipelines” and “actual physical action to
stop the flow”.
The trouble with this justification for destroying Syria’s oil pipelines, is that ISIS does not have the capability to use the pipelines to transfer oil. ISIS transports the stolen oil on the back of trucks, and sells it on the black market in Turkey.
The trouble with this justification for destroying Syria’s oil pipelines, is that ISIS does not have the capability to use the pipelines to transfer oil. ISIS transports the stolen oil on the back of trucks, and sells it on the black market in Turkey.
This is admitted in the same Independent article that quoted Ms. Noyes.
The Independent claims:
Isis has sold some of the fuel from seized facilities back to the Damascus regime through local deals, while shipments had been sent into Turkey for the black market, with the Erdogan government accused of turning a blind eye to the illicit transactions.
If the US truly intended to stop ISIS oil profits, they would bomb
these oil convoys, which are easily spotted via conventional
surveillance flights already allegedly taking place as part of ongoing
Western operations. The US agenda behind destroying Syria’s pipelines
has very little to do with ISIS oil profits, and far more to do with
destroying Syria’s oil infrastructure.In fact, the statistic that ISIS
is making 2 million dollars a day from the sale of crude oil is an
estimate from a single consulting company (IHS) based in Colorado in the
United States. The US administration is choosing to quote this as if it
were without a shred of doubt. It’s far more likely that the scale of
the profits has been overblown to deflect from the fact that ISIS is
receiving funding from state actors such as Turkey, Qatar and other
Persian Gulf states, while at the same time providing an excuse to
target Syrian infrastructure.
Earlier last month the US-led airstrikes on Syria and Iraq supposedly destroyed small oil refineries in Raqqa. No effort was made to prove whether or not ISIS was in fact capable of using Syria’s oil refineries. In fact the same consulting company which the US administration is quoting about ISIS oil profits (IHS), states that ISIS is selling unrefined crude oil. The IHS adds the caveat that this estimate was made before ‘US airstrikes’ eluding to the notion that US airstrikes have had an effect on ISIS oil profits. However, the Britain based pro-insurgency Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which was the West establishment-run media’s most reliable source years into the Syrian crisis, said that the oil refineries were not real targets and were not being used by ISIS.
Reuters would report:
Earlier last month the US-led airstrikes on Syria and Iraq supposedly destroyed small oil refineries in Raqqa. No effort was made to prove whether or not ISIS was in fact capable of using Syria’s oil refineries. In fact the same consulting company which the US administration is quoting about ISIS oil profits (IHS), states that ISIS is selling unrefined crude oil. The IHS adds the caveat that this estimate was made before ‘US airstrikes’ eluding to the notion that US airstrikes have had an effect on ISIS oil profits. However, the Britain based pro-insurgency Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which was the West establishment-run media’s most reliable source years into the Syrian crisis, said that the oil refineries were not real targets and were not being used by ISIS.
Reuters would report:
These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them,” Rami Abdel Rahman of the Observatory told Reuters. “They are composed of trucks with equipment to separate diesel and petrol used by civilians.
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