U.S. Presses for U.N. Resolution to Fight ISIS’ Financing

[vero]

WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia are negotiating a new resolution at the United Nations Security Council intended to strengthen international efforts to cut off revenues that the Islamic State raises to govern territory and spread its ideology.

The United States, as the rotating president of the Security Council, is pressing for the adoption of the resolution at an unusual gathering on Dec. 17, at which some of the finance ministers from the 15 members of the council are expected to attend.

The new resolution against the Islamic State would be based on one first passed in 1999 to target the financing of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, its leader at the time. A similar measure was passed in February, directed at the Islamic State, but Russia, which holds veto power as a permanent member of the Council, has complained that it is routinely flouted.

Russia’s ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, said Friday that Moscow wanted the new measure to include a provision that required the secretary general’s office to report who is violating the prohibitions. He declined to elaborate.

“We decided to do a joint draft to tighten the screws on those who trade with ISIL,” Mr. Churkin said, referring to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL He added that such a measure would “toughen the stance of the international community on our fight against terrorists.”

The sources of the Islamic State’s revenues are broadly known, but officials have acknowledged that many of the details have proved elusive and difficult to combat.

In addition to a steady trade in oil, the group extracts even greater amounts of money from people in the territory it controls, by imposing taxes, fees and penalties on activities from business to looting antiquities. To a lesser extent it also relies on money transfers in and out of Syria and Iraq — flows of money that the new resolution would seek to halt.

By most estimates, the group raises more than a billion dollars a year, which it uses to fund its fighters and provide basic services in its territories in Syria and Iraq. That has made it arguably the wealthiest terrorist organization in the world.

The new effort by the United States comes as controversy over the Islamic State’s finances divides countries deeply involved in the conflict in Syria and Iraq, but American officials and diplomats said there was a growing consensus that more needed to be done.

Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew will preside over the meeting in New York. Administration officials said it would be the first meeting of the Security Council to involve finance ministers from some of the council’s current 15 members, and they expressed hope that the resolution, still being drafted, would be adopted by then.

“Cutting ISIL off from the international financial system and disrupting its financing are critical to effectively combating this violent terrorist group,” Mr. Lew said in a statement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/world/middleeast/islamic-state-revenue-united-nations.html?ref=world

[bryant.coleman]

Is this some sort of a joke?

Everyone knows that a large part of the ISIS revenues are coming from Turkey (which happens to be one of the foremost allies of the United States in the region, and an important member of the NATO), in exchange for crude oil. If the Americans really want to stop the ISIS funding, then they should ask Turkey to stop buying oil from the ISIS.

[hunnaryb]

The de-stablization of the middle eastern region is nothing but an excuse to revisit to steal commodities and all the while take away civil liberties back at home in the name of fighting the invisible enemy (terrorism).

[countryfree]

Unless they build a big wall on the Turkish border with soldiers killing anyone trespassing, this is BS. Someone to hire Donald Trump or Israel to build that wall. I've seen pictures of trucks being bombed, maybe they could bomb all the roads so that no vehicle could drive through.

[panju1]

A similar measure was passed in February, directed at the Islamic State, but Russia, which holds veto power as a permanent member of the Council, has complained that it is routinely flouted.

What is the point of these resolutions, if they cannot be enforced properly?

[bryant.coleman]

Unless they build a big wall on the Turkish border with soldiers killing anyone trespassing, this is BS. Someone to hire Donald Trump or Israel to build that wall. I've seen pictures of trucks being bombed, maybe they could bomb all the roads so that no vehicle could drive through.

That is what the Russians are doing right now. The Americans have refused to bomb the oil tankers, claiming that it will cause civilian casualties. No need for a wall. The oil tankers need well-maintained roads to move their cargo. They can't travel through dirt roads in difficult terrain. There are only 2 or 3 roads from Raqqa to Turkey, so closing them won't be an issue. 

[johnsmith1964]

The UN is quite incompetent.

It generally does not work. ISIS is being financed by major donors in the middle east. There are so many deceitful people who smile at the west and make statements they they are against ISIS .....BUT ..... the truth is they are themselves financing and helping ISIS in many ways! The US is also playing a game and could do much more to destroy roads, oil wells smugglers to defeat them.

[Spendulus]

Unless they build a big wall on the Turkish border with soldiers killing anyone trespassing, this is BS. Someone to hire Donald Trump or Israel to build that wall. I've seen pictures of trucks being bombed, maybe they could bomb all the roads so that no vehicle could drive through.

That is what the Russians are doing right now. The Americans have refused to bomb the oil tankers, claiming that it will cause civilian casualties. No need for a wall. The oil tankers need well-maintained roads to move their cargo. They can't travel through dirt roads in difficult terrain. There are only 2 or 3 roads from Raqqa to Turkey, so closing them won't be an issue. 

Sounds like we need some "no drive" zones.

[galdur]

Maybe this could help with the initial investigation

The ISIS TWITTER Census

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/isis-twitter-census-berger-morgan/isis_twitter_census_berger_morgan.pdf

[bryant.coleman]

It generally does not work. ISIS is being financed by major donors in the middle east. There are so many deceitful people who smile at the west and make statements they they are against ISIS .....BUT ..... the truth is they are themselves financing and helping ISIS in many ways! The US is also playing a game and could do much more to destroy roads, oil wells smugglers to defeat them.

At least initially, a few of the powerful royal family members in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were supporting the ISIS. But now, this inflow seems to have slowed down. The main focus of the Arab Sheikhs have shifted to the Al Nusra front, the Ahrar ash Sham and the other "moderate" terrorists. Now ISIS is generating income on its own, by selling oil, extortion, dacoity.etc.

[galdur]

So U.S. wants to fight its own and its allies financing of ISIS. And they want the U.N. to rubberstamp it. That´ll work. They always have solid fighting plans and hardly ever screw up as their record fighting this and that, here and there very clearly shows.

Hopefully it won´t be as lenghty as the war on the ground. So far Uncle Sam has spent 20,000 bombs on probing the defences of ISIS and is about out of ammo unfortunately for the moment. 

[vero]

The UN is quite incompetent.

It generally does not work. ISIS is being financed by major donors in the middle east. There are so many deceitful people who smile at the west and make statements they they are against ISIS .....BUT ..... the truth is they are themselves financing and helping ISIS in many ways! The US is also playing a game and could do much more to destroy roads, oil wells smugglers to defeat them.

The 1st thing in order to Fight the Terrorists in Syria ,Iraq and Lebanon,is to force Turkish Govt. to remove the Had of the Snake Mr. Erdogan,who is the main supporters of these Terrorists,ISIS and Al Nusra in Syria and Iraq,which the Brave Russians proved It to the World,by His and His Son,s involvement of Buying Stolen Syrian and Iraqi Oil in order to support these Criminals with Weapons

[bryant.coleman]

Hopefully it won´t be as lenghty as the war on the ground. So far Uncle Sam has spent 20,000 bombs on probing the defences of ISIS and is about out of ammo unfortunately for the moment. 

I am very suspicious about that figure. I am quite sure that the Americans used less than 10% of that number in Syria and Iraq. Someone needs to do an audit of the American defense spending in Syria and Iraq. The figures just don't match. Had they dropped these 20K bombs for real, then the ISIS would have long been history.

[galdur]

Hopefully it won´t be as lenghty as the war on the ground. So far Uncle Sam has spent 20,000 bombs on probing the defences of ISIS and is about out of ammo unfortunately for the moment.  

I am very suspicious about that figure. I am quite sure that the Americans used less than 10% of that number in Syria and Iraq. Someone needs to do an audit of the American defense spending in Syria and Iraq. The figures just don't match. Had they dropped these 20K bombs for real, then the ISIS would have long been history.

Well, if you drop a bomb it doesn´t necessarily mean that it will hit anything worth bombing. It may not even be aimed at anything worth bombing. And since those who are supposedly expecting to be bombed any moment are likely to somehow try to avoid being sent to oblivion, again just bombing and bombing doesn´t in itself have to mean that much.

[galdur]

But of course the whole thing is mostly a scam. It´s a gravy-train on taxpayer money. That has been going on forever.

They said they spent a whopping 500 million dollars to train some moderate jihadists in Syria and that resulted in a handful that maybe went to the front. You can look it up. The people in charge don´t even care that their huge war scams are exposed by now. They do it happily themselves. They know that it goes in one ear of the public and straight out the other so what does it matter.

The fruitcakes in charge wave the magic wand sorry the American flag and say hallelujah, it works the same way as when Tommy Lee Jones uses that memory erasing thing in MIB, and continue their scams.

[bryant.coleman]

$500 million to train just four or five individuals? That is quite frankly unbelievable. It represents almost one-fourth of the annual military budget of a small country such as Belarus. And we should remember here that the strength of the Belorussian Armed Forces is somewhere around 62,000. Pathetic wastage of taxpayer's money.

[galdur]

$500 million to train just four or five individuals? That is quite frankly unbelievable. It represents almost one-fourth of the annual military budget of a small country such as Belarus. And we should remember here that the strength of the Belorussian Armed Forces is somewhere around 62,000. Pathetic wastage of taxpayer's money.

It disappeared into some pockets. As in business as usual. The Pentagon has never been able (and definitely not willing) to account for itself. It´s unaccountable. Without any accountability. Just like the system that runs it.

Remember Baghdad Bob? Here´s his American counterpart Chuck, doing the spin in 2013

[galdur]

The DOD has amassed a backlog of more than $500 billion in unaudited contracts with outside vendors. How much of that money paid for actual goods and services delivered isn’t known.

Over the past 10 years the DOD has signed contracts for provisions of more than $3 trillion in goods and services. How much of that money is wasted in overpayments to contractors, or was never spent and never remitted to the Treasury is a mystery.

The Pentagon uses a standard operating procedure to enter false numbers, or “plugs,” to cover lost or missing information in their accounting in order to submit a balanced budget to the Treasury. In 2012, the Pentagon reported $9.22 billion in these reconciling amounts. That was up from $7.41 billion the year before.

The accounting dysfunction leads the DOD to buy too much stuff. One example: the “vehicular control arm” to supply Humvees. In 2008, the DOD had 15,000 parts -- a 14-year supply (anything more than three years is considered excess supply). Yet from 2010 to 2012, it bought 7,437 more of these parts and at higher prices than they paid for the ones they already had.

The Defense Department’s 2012 budget was $565.8 billion. Paltrow points out that’s more than the annual defense budgets of the next 10 biggest military spenders combined. He tells us the Pentagon “almost certainly is” the biggest source of waste in the government based on his reporting.

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And there´s much much more....it´s one gigantic racket. War is a racket.

https://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/want-cut-government-waste-8-5-trillion-pentagon-142321339.html

[bryant.coleman]

The DOD has amassed a backlog of more than $500 billion in unaudited contracts with outside vendors. How much of that money paid for actual goods and services delivered isn’t known.

Over the past 10 years the DOD has signed contracts for provisions of more than $3 trillion in goods and services. How much of that money is wasted in overpayments to contractors, or was never spent and never remitted to the Treasury is a mystery.

This is an extremely dangerous situation to the world peace. I am not worried about the American taxpayers losing their hard earned money. But I am genuinely concerned that some of the American politicians might invade third world nations without any provocation, in order to pocket a part of the money from the American defense budget. The rampant corruption just gives them an additional incentive to start new wars.

[galdur]

The DOD has amassed a backlog of more than $500 billion in unaudited contracts with outside vendors. How much of that money paid for actual goods and services delivered isn’t known.

Over the past 10 years the DOD has signed contracts for provisions of more than $3 trillion in goods and services. How much of that money is wasted in overpayments to contractors, or was never spent and never remitted to the Treasury is a mystery.

This is an extremely dangerous situation to the world peace. I am not worried about the American taxpayers losing their hard earned money. But I am genuinely concerned that some of the American politicians might invade third world nations without any provocation, in order to pocket a part of the money from the American defense budget. The rampant corruption just gives them an additional incentive to start new wars.

I don´t know if they pocket that money directly, but then again they may for all I know.

But these endless war scams are certainly great for weapons manufacturers, that fund these bozos and the marketing of them to the public. It takes money I guess to make turds appear appetizing.