Islamic State: Follow the money

Though I agreed with most of the propositions set forth in Harleen Gambhir’s well-researched and even-handed article, I felt let down by her conclusion, that the focus in combating Islamic State should be to end the wars in the Middle East and withdraw backing for Syria’s Bashar-al Assad. 

I think it has been shown that the Iraqi war and removal of Saddam Hussein did in fact open the way for the expansion of al-Qaeda and IS in the region (although Hussein was brutal, he at least kept the lid on these groups). Similarly, despite the reported atrocities committed by Assad, he did control Syria until the mid-2000s when, with Hussein out of the way, he lost control of the North and his grip was weakened in the South. If Western powers succeed in removing him, we will see a repeat of the situation in Iraq, with numerous warring parties striving to take control. Rather than solving the IS problem, this will only intensify the crisis.

I do agree that IS must be militarily defeated, but this requires a concerted, coordinated effort by the major powers, not individual countries poking away here and there. One aspect that was not covered was the issue of IS funding, which seems to come from two main sources. First, it receives millions of dollars per month in oil revenue. By determining the location of the IS oil fields, we can shut them down and cut off that funding source. Funding also comes from Middle East countries and other international sources. Again, these should be identified and acted against.

As I have said before, without funding, the Islamic State will wither and die.

Ray Gregory