ISIS has so much money that they’re wealthier than several actual countries.
So, how does ISIS get its money?
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ISIS has grown from a violent marauding terrorist cell, to a violent marauding terrorist state.
But fighting a war to establish a caliphate is expensive, especially when countries like
the US are ready to foot the other side’s bill.
So how has ISIS managed to stay viable?
Where does ISIS they get their money?
Well, some estimates have placed ISIS’s income as high as $3 million dollars a day.
Following the capture of the Iraqi city of Mosul [moh-sul] in 2014, their assets increased
to as much as $2 billion dollars.
That explains how they’ve been able to buy guns and pay their fighters more than any
nearby government.
The bulk of their cash comes from captured oil fields.
Massive wells and refineries dot northern Iraq and Syria, where ISIS has taken over.
In turn, they’ve reportedly sold stolen oil to Turkey, where oil is extremely expensive.
Although US forces have pushed back, ISIS is still believed to control half of Syria’s
oilfields.
Besides oil territory, the terrorist group receives donations from supporters in wealthy
Gulf countries.
The worst offender is Qatar [cu-ttar], where the government has done little to stop the
flow of cash.
ISIS also made about $125 million dollars from kidnappings and ransoms between 2008
and 2014.
Their gruesome execution videos have pressured multiple countries into negotiating for the
release of certain prisoners, rather than leaving them to such a terrible fate.
Since ISIS is, at its heart, a criminal organization, it should be unsurprising that some of their
funds come from organized crime and extortion in the cities they’ve taken control of.
Sources have reported that they loot and steal from the governments they overtake and sell
what ancient artifacts they haven’t destroyed.
Then they impose a sweeping tax on the remaining citizens, charging them for using roads, running
a business, withdrawing money from the bank, et cetera.
On top of that, they operate a mafia-type extortion system, where residents have to
pay ISIS to be protected from ISIS.
These methods, along with suspected organ farming, human trafficking, and crop control,
have made it possible for the Islamic state to become somewhat self sufficient.
They’ve even announced their own gold, silver, and copper currency to compete with global
currencies they considered to be “satanic”.
Unlike most terrorist groups which receive the majority of their funds from outside sources,
ISIS has managed to sustain itself.
Whether the wealth of the western nations is enough to overcome this advantage is yet
to be seen.
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