...ISIS, which has renamed itself the Islamic State and unilaterally declared the reestablishment of an Islamic caliphate, was financially self-sufficient for about eight years as a terrorist and insurgent group before committing itself to running a proto-state.
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And unlike other groups, which are reliant on state sponsors, major donors, or abuse of charity, AQI was financially independent by virtue of engaging in tremendously successful criminal activity enterprises domestically within Iraq.
By September, estimates put ISIS's daily income at around $3 million, giving it a total value of assets between $1.3 and $2 billion, making it the world's best-funded terrorist group. By this standard, ISIS draws more income than many small nations, including Tonga, Nauru, and the Marshall Islands.
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Prior to the air campaign against ISIS that began in August, the group operated around 350 oil wells in Iraq and 60% of Syria's oil fields. In August, oil production from facilities under ISIS control was estimated at around 80,000 barrels per day. ISIS is believed to sell some 30,000 barrels a day in Iraq and 50,000 in Syria, which go for roughly $40 per barrel on the black market. ISIS only produces around a fifth of the total capacity of the oil fields under its control in Iraq and Syria. Even prior to the conflict, Syria's oil fields were considered old and inefficient, producing only 10% of total capacity. ISIS has tapped into pre-existing black market routes that date back to the 1990s and the smuggling networks that popped up under the Saddam-era oil-for-food program. It uses these to sell extracted crude oil to smugglers, who then transport the oil outside of conflict zones using a variety of means: tanker trucks, vans, jerry cans carried by mules, makeshift pipes, and even rafts when crossing rivers. In one case, Turkish authorities found an underground pipeline as long as 3 miles (4.8 kilometers).
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...singled out Qatar as an especially "permissive jurisdiction" for terrorist financing. Qatari oversight is so lax, Cohen noted, that "several major Qatar-based fundraisers act as local representatives for larger terrorist fundraising networks that are based in Kuwait." Not wanting to expose sensitive intelligence, Cohen pointed to press reports that Qatar supports not only Hamas but also extremist groups operating in Syria.
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...Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaymi, a Qatari academic and businessman, to its terror list, noting he "ordered the transfer of nearly $600,000 to al- Qa'ida via al-Qa'ida's representative in Syria, Abu-Khalid al-Suri, and intended to transfer nearly $50,000 more." An equal opportunity terror financier, al-Nuaymi also sent over $2 million per month to al-Qaeda in Iraq (now called ISIS), to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and to al-Shabab in Somalia.
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...described Kuwait as the "epicenter of fundraising for terrorist groups in Syria." Kuwait is more politically vibrant, and thus more volatile than Qatar. Any meaningful crackdown on terrorist financing would certainly "invite the wrath of powerful Salafist politicians and clerics...as well as the Sunni majority who have criticized the government for not providing enough military support to the Syrian opposition."
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...More than a third of Iraq's 12,000 archaeological sites are under ISIS control. Excavating and selling artifacts that date back to 9,000 BCE has provided ISIS its second-largest revenue stream after illicit oil sales. Many of these items are smuggled into Europe via Turkey, Iran, and Syria. While it is nearly impossible to estimate the total profits of selling these artifacts, it is known that one lion sculpture from the region sold for more than $50 million
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...Lastly, ransom payments from kidnappings may comprise nearly 20% of ISIS's revenue. Treasury Undersecretary Cohen has estimated that ISIS has received $20 million in ransoms this year alone. Kurdish forces estimate the group takes in $10 million a month from kidnapping. France may have paid $18 million for four of its captured journalists in April. Internally, ISIS manages a thriving ***-trafficking industry. Estimates of the number of kidnapped Yazidi women and girls forced into marriage or *** slavery range from 2,500 to 4,000. Women are sold at a low price, however, often as low as $10, mainly to attract more ISIS recruits, not as a fundraising mechanism.
Originally Posted by davidbfpo
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