In 2002, a Congressional panel in Washington held hearings on open
registers amid reports that the "U.S. and NATO countries were hunting up
to 23 ships believed to be controlled by Al-Qaeda and operating under
flags of convenience."
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| ISIS flag on captured tank |
Fast forward more than a decade, and Al-Qaeda is a shadow of its former self, overshadowed by the vicious and ruthless rise of the Islamic State. The Islamic State would likely be brazen enough to fly their black flags on whatever ship they captured, since they consider themselves a state, but like the terrorist organization that it still continues to be at its ideological roots, they have also taken to massively using flags of convenience to fund their killing machine.
According to a source within the US intelligence apparatus, elements within the US government suspect that the Islamic State could be operating hundreds, if not more than a thousand ships, under flags of convenience. Recent reports released by the Kremlin seem to corroborate suspicions that a dark world exists, just outside of the law, where terrorist organizations can in mere minutes register a ship with nations as far away as Liberia, Honduras, or Mongolia.
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| Kremlin |
Just recently, the Kremlin accused elements within the family of Turkey's leadership of being implicated in the smuggling of ISIS oil. The Malta Independent reports that: "Regional politics, propaganda and the Russia-Turkey saber-rattling
aside, the crux of the matter as far as Malta is concerned is that the
fleet of five tankers owned by Erdogan’s son, which are being linked to
the illegal trade, are all registered in Malta."
While the Russians and their Syrian regime allies blame Turkey for selling ISIS oil, Turkey blames the Syrian regime for selling the oil as well. Though it may seem counter-intuitive that the Syrian regime would essentially fund the war machine of its most ruthless opponent, this follows Syrian military strategy, one centered on eliminating the moderate opposition in order to prop up radicals no one in the free world could ever hope to support.
What remains clear in the fog of war, nonetheless, is the fact that ISIS is funding itself using the high seas. ISIS is already operating a massive economic portfolio, one with hidden sides which are only just beginning to rise to the surface.
There is reluctance in the mainstream media to report on the smuggling of ISIS oil because it implicates individuals within all the upper-echelons of NATO's constituent governments. In the same way that the UK protected its pedophile class because of the political ramifications it could unleash, so is the mainstream media concealing to just how massive an extent ISIS is smuggling not only oil, but also narcotics, and weapons.
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| Kim Jong-eun |
Recently revealed documents detail just how ISIS is building a state, one that combines radical Islam with "Soviet-level economic controls." ISIS has borrowed examples from North Korea's "Room 39," a government agency which operates as an international black market agency, managing "illicit income, from such
sources as meth exports (estimated worth: $100 million to $200 million
per year) or scamming foreign businesses, which it then uses to quietly
import high-quality food and liquor for Kim's court. The money could
also potentially be spent on the country's weapons program."
According to my source, the Islamic State has developed plans in the eventuality that it becomes cut off from its main smuggling routes through its vast border with Turkey. ISIL's Room 39 is already operating massive underground factories, manufacturing narcotics to be used by its soldiers; "Separate investigations by the news agency Reuters and Time magazine
have found that the growing trade in Syrian-made Captagon – an
amphetamine widely consumed in the Middle East but almost unknown
elsewhere – generated revenues of millions of dollars inside the country
last year, some of which was almost certainly used to fund weapons,
while combatants on both sides are reportedly turning to the stimulant
to help them keep fighting."
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| Al-Baghdadi Mugshot |
My source confirms that diversification has already taken mass effect. Recent rumors surfaced online that El Chapo has declared war on ISIS because of they were affecting his exports. Though those rumors proved to be false, what remains certain is that Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is already one of El Chapo's main competitors. The difference between El Chapo and The Caliph, however, is that Al-Baghdadi has colluded with much more powerful warlords.
In the Middle East, The Caliph is merely one of many individuals profiting from death and destruction, while El Chapo is a big fish in a small pond. In both instances, greed has corrupted the upper echelons of political life, and continuing revelations could soon potentially upturn governments.
