Putin claims Turkey is smuggling the terror group?s oil, but the awkward truth is his ally Assad buys more?from ISIS?s own public-private partnership.
Revealed: Assad Buys Oil From ISIS - The Daily Beast
Quote:
We know ISIS has a discreet arrangement with a neighbor, but it?s not Turkey. The Syrian regime has done business with ISIS from day one, just as it did with al Qaeda?s Nusra Front and other rebels who took over energy assets early in the war. President Bashar al-Assad?s point man for ISIS deals, George Haswani, was first designated by the European Union in March. The U.S. Treasury went a step further with its designation on Nov. 25. In addition to the oil deals, Treasury fingered Haswani?s engineering and construction company (HESCO) for servicing active ISIS fields. Leading up to the most recent wave of airstrikes against ISIS oil targets, U.S. officials admitted the network was more resilient and resourceful than expected. Another Treasury designation in late September hinted that ISIS actually increased oil production this year. They may have had some help from Assad?s man.
... Besides oil, ISIS delivers natural gas to the regime. These deals are durable because ISIS can?t use it or sell it to anyone else: It must be captured at the source and moved by pipeline. The only users connected to the gas fields are power plants, refineries, and industries, which are concentrated in Assad?s strongholds. In exchange for gas, the regime provides utilities like electricity, which ISIS taxes accordingly. At natural gas fields like those around Palmyra, which produce lighter liquid hydrocarbons in addition to gas, ISIS takes whatever it can turn into fuel. The gas goes west to Assad.
...Russia?s spectacular claims don?t match facts on the ground or the reality of smuggling in this part of the world. The only thing that makes sense about this conspiracy theory is the timing. It appears to be a direct result of the Nov. 24 episode in which Russia lost a jet and two servicemen.
This isn?t surprising. Russia?s reputation for misinformation is well established, and Moscow doesn?t make distinctions in Syria. In Putin?s eyes, every rebel is ISIS, and every truck carries ISIS oil.
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Question: Where do the Russians get their jet fuel -- locally in Syria?
Oh the irony -- or the deception ...
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