MEASURING AND UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF TERRORISM

colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam
Hussein’s air defence force. Also known as
the “Lord of the Shadows”, he meticulously
designed the original structure of ISIL. His
master plan represents the source code of
how to create and run an “Islamic
Intelligence State” resembling the Stasi, East
Germany’s notorious domestic intelligence
agency. 4 The plan articulates how to recruit
followers, how to identify sources of income,
and how to target influential families and
military opponents. ISIL is also resultsoriented:
it has articulated its strategic goals,
complete with a 2020 vision and 14 key
indicators that measure its monthly
performance and investments from region to
region. To emphasise its transparency and
professionalism, it publishes an annual report
which sets out its business strategy of terror
and destruction, including specific
investments, down to the cost of each
suicide mission.
THE ISIL BRAND
Moreover, ISIL has effectively managed its
strategic branding. It uses online media tools
to disseminate its vision of the caliphate.
Similar to a start-up business, it retains its
competitive advantage with its al-Hayat
Media arm which oversees several media
divisions and provides each province content
that pays tribute to fighters and extols
battlefield exploits. Its strategic messaging
and use of media as a psychological weapon
in war is used tactically to magnify its power,
attract foreign fighters and new citizens, and
win greater economic resources. It has not
only populated social media platforms but
has attracted a global network of supporters
that articulate, magnify and circulate its
violent extremist messages worldwide. So far
little has been done to counter the ISIL’s
digital campaign. 5
One of the most powerful tools of the ISIL is
the creation of its brand and image, linked to
the notion that it is a modern-day “caliphate”.
By creating this notion, ISIL presents itself as
the vanguard of militant Islam, the only
legitimate jihadist movement to hold territory
and govern a pseudo state. It claims to offer
an “authentic” way of life different from
secularism. The ISIL propaganda machine
maintains that it is providing medical, social,
policing, and rescue services and an effective
administration. 6
ISIL has attempted to preserve its public
service personnel in their jobs through
pre-existing governance structures. Some
services are even financed by Baghdad, which
has continued to pay public employees. ISIL
profits from this arrangement by forcing state
employees to give “zakat” a percentage of
their salary. ISIL obligates financially capable
Muslims to pay a sum of their money and
assets to the Caliph’s treasury. ISIL has a Zakat
Department which is responsible for collecting
the fee, it claims to use the money for locals in
need. A research paper published earlier this
month by Aymenn al-Tamimi found that ISIL
documents obtained from pro- and anti-
Islamic State sources pointed to a
“bureaucratic system with a level of
complexity and professionalism that probably
makes the Islamic State sustainable, even
under containment.” 7
The claim to be the true Islamic State has
facilitated the group’s recruitment of
Westerners, thousands of whom have
flocked to join its ranks. The appeal to join is
rooted deeper than just the romanticised
rise of an Islamic fighting force; the
caliphate is also appealing to more secular
interests by advertising jobs, a regular
monthly salary, a wife or husband, and in
some cases even a home.
ISIL maintains that the new “caliphate is all
inclusive and allows Muslims to practice their
religion without discrimination.” Even those
with criminal or troubled pasts have the
opportunity to become extraordinary
overnight. ISIL’s appeal was captured in
statement by Canadian foreign fighter Abu
Muslim al-Canadi (André Poulin) in a
September 2014 video released by ISIL.
You know, there’s a role for everybody.
Every person can contribute something to
the Islamic State…If you cannot fight, then
you give money, if you cannot give money
then you can assist in technology, and if you
can’t assist in technology you can use some
other skills. 8
ISIL’s military prowess is also attractive to
many. ISIL leadership includes former officers
in the military and intelligence services of the
Sadam Hussein regime. ISIL’s military as of
September 2015 has attracted approximately
25,000 foreign fighters from over 100 different
countries, including 4,500 Westerners. 9
Foreign fighters bring with them new skills,
and they are offered the highest salaries
ranging from US$400-1,200 a month. 10
Salaries are a magnet for attracting fighters in
Syria: there are accounts that some Free
Syrian Army fighters left their US$60 per
month positions to join Jabhat al-Nusra group
who offered US$300; ultimately they joined
ISIL which offered the highest salaries,
housing and career advancement. 11
In addition to fresh troops, foreign fighters
also provide ISIL with new income, either by
depositing funds that are later accessed in
areas near ISIL or by bringing cash. ISIL also
solicits funds online via Skype and Twitter or
via money remitters, and international
prepaid cards. 12
OIL
Oil is the black gold of ISIL. As of September
2015, ISIL controls 10 oilfields in Syria and Iraq.
Oil wealth serves several purposes: it provides
energy needs for the estimated 10 million
civilians living in ISIL controlled territory and it
helps fuel the war machine. More importantly,
oil is used as a leveraging device to control its
enemies. Many opposition forces are
dependent on ISIL for diesel.
ISIL sells most of its crude directly to
independent traders at the oil fields in an
organised system. Tankers queue for weeks to
get access to the prized commodity. Estimates
by local traders and engineers put crude
production in ISIL-held territory at about
34,000-40,000 barrels per day. The oil is sold
at the wellhead for between US$20 and
US$45 a barrel, earning the militants an
average of US$1.5 million a day.13 The US
Assistant Secretary of Treasury for terrorist
financing stated that in a one month period
earlier this year, ISIL made about $US40
million off the sale of oil.14 A large portion of
the money that ISIL raised from June 2014
onwards came from oil fields and refineries.
Oil is also a tool to launder money.15 Oil is
smuggled throughout Iraq and Kurdistan and
into Syria through a shadowy network of
criminal operatives using desert routes and
rugged mountains using trucks or donkeys,
and through legitimate crossings for
consumption in Turkey, Iran, and Jordan. Many
of these were already established to
circumvent the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq.
If they are caught, poor border guards in Iraq,
Syria, Iran and Turkey are bribed.
Oil also allows ISIL to extort the regime of
Bashar al-Assad. Gas supplies 90 per cent of
Syria’s power grid on which ISIL and the Assad
regime depend on for energy. ISIL controls at
least eight power plants in Syria, including
three hydro-electric facilities and the
countries’ largest gas plant. Cooperation
between ISIL and Syrian regime is strongest
over gas that generates Syria’s electricity grid.
GLOBAL TERRORISM INDEX 2015 | Expert Contributions
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