Inside ISIS Inc

Generali

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/baad34e4-973c-11e5-9228-87e603d47bdc.html#axzz3t2NFgFsb

As a known arms dealer for rebels fighting Isis in his east Syrian home town, Abu Ali was sure his days were numbered when, a year ago, two jihadi commanders stepped out of their pickup truck and walked towards him. He was baffled when they handed him a printed paper. “It read, ‘This person is permitted to buy and sell all types of weaponry inside the Islamic State,’” recalls Abu Ali. “It was even stamped ‘Mosul Centre’.”

Mistermeaner

probably more economically literate than the SNP

vivatifosi

Thanks for starting this thread Gen. There is so much about the economics of the so called Caliphate that I would like to know and this is a really interesting start.

Other things I'd like to know are:

Who is buying the oil?
Are they being bankrolled from outside and is that at a state level?
Do shops, restaurants, factories etc still function as normal?
Is it like living in a brutal yet functioning country, or more like living under the !!!!!, with a huge black economy and protection money paid?
What percentage of their GDP do they spend on their military?

vivatifosi

Have found an interesting article on how they run the economy...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/world/middleeast/predatory-islamic-state-wrings-money-from-those-it-rules.html?_r=0

princeofpounds

Who is buying the oil?

Turkey mostly, but it's rather indirect. It's not the state buying, but there is a network of traders who basically bring it over the border and mix it into more legitimate trading systems. From there, it ends up everywhere, but mostly in Turkish domestic consumption. There is nothing special about Turkey really, it's just the route that is open.

Are they being bankrolled from outside and is that at a state level?

Not so much these days. They found a big stack of cash (literally) in the Mosul Central Bank which was abandoned - the Iraqi state still has to operate largely on a cash basis. Hundreds of millions of dollars if you believe the press (I have no idea). They also have the oil production, and sell antiquities. (Edit: and extract trade/road tolls and extortion)


If they are getting any external help, it is mostly in terms of open trading routes. There was some sympathy from Sunni populations in the region (Turkey, West Iraq directly, places like Saudi less directly) at the outset, but I think they exhausted a lot of goodwill.

Do shops, restaurants, factories etc still function as normal?

In some areas the local economy functions fairly normally. You can still get a can of coca cola in the market for example. But where there is fighting it all falls apart.

Is it like living in a brutal yet functioning country, or more like living under the !!!!!, with a huge black economy and protection money paid?

The two main cities have the trappings of a state - out on the road and in the towns and villages I think it tends to be much more wild west.

What percentage of their GDP do they spend on their military?

no idea sorry.

antrobus

vivatifosi wrote: »

...Who is buying the oil?....

There is an established black market for oil in Iraq. Once the oil is refined it just disappears into the market.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/18/business/al-khatteeb-isis-oil-iraq/

vivatifosi wrote: »

...Are they being bankrolled from outside and is that at a state level?...

Initially, yes. The funding came from wealthy individuals in other ME states, but no state level funding I think. Unless you count the ransoms that Spain and France handed over.

vivatifosi wrote: »

....Do shops, restaurants, factories etc still function as normal?...

As normal as you can get in a state of permanent war.

vivatifosi wrote: »

...Is it like living in a brutal yet functioning country, or more like living under the !!!!!, with a huge black economy and protection money paid?......

I think it's more like living under that well known organised crime organisation whose name is for some reason not allowed here in MSEland. But Islamic State appear to have a very effective tax collection system. The penalty for non payment is death.

vivatifosi wrote: »

..What percentage of their GDP do they spend on their military?

I don't believe that Islamic State has got round to establishing its own version of the ONS. So I expect the answer would be 'nobody knows'.

Generali

vivatifosi wrote: »

Have found an interesting article on how they run the economy...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/world/middleeast/predatory-islamic-state-wrings-money-from-those-it-rules.html?_r=0

Interesting piece if you can get past the pejorative language. I love how they talk about what happens to people that don't pay up. What does the NYT think happens to people that don't pay their taxes in the UK or US? To couch it in the same terms......



....in the UK, people are expect to give up to half their income or even more to the self-styled 'Head of the Church of England' through her hated 'HMRC'. HMRC has the power to break in to people's homes at will and can seize property and even throw dissenters of the so-called taxation system into prison.

This system of taxation is based on the ancient Christian idea of tithing where the faithful were expected to give 10% of their money to local theocratic rulers. In the C21st, these fundamentalists demand far, far more to pay for wars and to distribute among supporters.

Sapphire

Why even give space for this psychopathic, murdering, pae*do. filth?

Generali

Sapphire wrote: »

Why even give space for this psychopathic, murdering, pae*do. filth?

Because I'm interested in how their economy works. Aren't you?

Sapphire

Generali wrote: »

Because I'm interested in how their economy works. Aren't you?

No – because 'their' 'economy' consists of what they've looted and pillaged from others, while murdering people in the most horrific way.

What I am interested in is knowing what countries and individuals collaborate with them by buying the things they've obtained by such methods, whether it's oil (e.g. Turkey) or antiquities.

purch

Generali wrote: »

Because I'm interested in how their economy works.

If we want to defeat them we need to understand them.