What will #OpCharlieHebdo mean for ISIL? Given the hacktivist group's
record so far, ISIL might want to refer back to the KKK for an answer …
As you may know by now, the Belgian branch of Anonymous has declared war on al-Qaeda and ISIL after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, which took the lives of twenty people, including the terrorists. On January 9, Anonymous posted
the following video.
This is a press release by anonymous.
In the case of the terror attack against Charlie
Hebdo, as we had previously told you, we plan on shedding light on all
these events and give homage to those innocent killed.
The anonymous of all the planet have decided to
declare war on you terrorists. We will track you down to the last one
and will *kill (destroy) you. You allowed yourselves to kill innocent
people. We will therefore avenge their deaths.
We will track all of your activities online. We will
close your accounts on social networks. You will not impose your Sharia
in our democracies. We will not let your stupidity kill our liberties,
and our freedom of expression.
We have warned you. Expect your destruction. We will track you everywhere on the planet. Nowhere will you be safe.
We are anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forget.
We do not forgive.
Be afraid of us, Islamic State and Al Qaida. You will get our vengeance.
#OpCharlieHebdo
On January 10,
an English version was posted, telling the world, “Attacking freedom of speech is attacking Anonymous. We will not permit it”:
Simply put, though ISIL is currently fighting Iraq,
the Kurds, and the United States, they may have finally pissed off the
wrong people. When Anonymous says they will “shed light” ISIL need only ask the KKK what, precisely, this means.
Though this representative said that the United
States is “not free of blame” for its contributions to the crisis (a
reference, at the very least, to Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its
bungled aftermath), he also made clear that Anonymous does not see ISIL
as representative of islam
but instead,
“gangsters who hijacked the islamic religion,” marking Anonymous as not
only more intelligent, but having more integrity, than the repugican cabal. As if this will come as a surprise to anyone.
It is well to consider how effective might be
Anonymous’ declaration of war. Besides “attacking their ideologies with
truth and logic,” as was
explained to France 24,
theirs is exactly the sort of response to which ISIL’s campaign of
terror has no answer. You cannot torture, rape, or behead, a computer
hack, which, by its very nature, is not only virtual, but untraceable.
For ISIL, this will be like being shot at by soldiers they cannot see.
In the video we
released, we plan to attack several countries that were knowingly
supporting ISIS financially, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia. We warn
that if they continue to support ISIS, we would be forced to destroy
their virtual infrastructure, and yes, we have those who can do this.
Since the United States cannot bring the full weight
of its powerful conventional arsenal to bear, and the Iraqi army seems
ill-equipped to face ISIL on the battlefield, the terrorists’ weak link
would seem to be its financial infrastructure.
It takes a huge war chest to run an operation like
the Caliphate’s, and this is not a chest full of gold sitting in the
back of a tent in a remote desert, or even in an opulent palace. In
today’s economy, this money is in banks, in investments, and will leave
an electronic trail.
According to Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein
Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy in Washington, D.C.,
ISIL is “the best-financed group we’ve ever seen.”
And
according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen, speaking in October,
[ISIL] has amassed
wealth at an unprecedented pace, and its revenue sources have a
different composition from those of many other terrorist organizations.
Unlike, for instance, core al-Qa’ida, ISIL derives a relatively small
share of its funds from deep-pocket donors, and thus does not, today,
depend principally on moving money across international borders.
Instead, ISIL obtains the vast majority of its revenues through local
criminal and terrorist activities.
The mainstream media has done its fair share of reporting on ISIL’s finances.
Newsweek examined
on “ISIS’s robust, sprawling, and efficient financial operation” in
November, telling us of the terrorist organization’s “currencies of
choice—cash, crude oil and contraband,” which “allow it to operate
outside of legitimate banking channels.”
The reach of ISIS’s
financial portfolio is broad and lucrative. Highly localized and
multiple revenue streams feed the terrorist organization’s
coffers—generating up to $6 million a day, according to Masrour Barzani,
head of Kurdish Intelligence and the Kurdistan Regional Security
Council.
Where does this money come from? Some sources are obvious: Kidnap, extortion, and other criminal activities, says the
Brookings Institution, though revenue from ransoms has diminished as ISIL runs out of likely victims.
CNN
points to
ISIL’s oil sales, explaining that “sources told CNN, the group probably
makes between $1 million and $2 million per day, but probably on the
lower end.” This oil goes not only to
the Assad regime in Syria, but across the border
to Turkey.
David Cohen
points out that following the money trail is not a straightforward
process, that this oil money travels via black marketeer to bank.
ISIL also receives money from sympathizers in various muslim states, Kuwait, and
especially Qatar,
ironically enough, Qatar being a Western ally and Kuwait being the
country the U.S. moved in to liberate in the First Gulf War, when Saddam
Hussein invaded and occupied the country. Saudi Arabia is another
source of funding for the terrorist group.
Saudi Arabia is an important if problematic US ally
in the war on terror. Federal options may be limited, but, of course,
Anonymous may be an answer for this:
Government of Saudi Arabia, prepare. Banks, TV & ISP' are going
#offline.
#GSM is coming.
#OpCharlieHebdo #OpISIS
ISIL also has a sizable area it can not only plunder, including banks, including $430 million alone
from a bank in Mosul, though this is a resource ISIL can tap only once when they occupy a city, and also taxation.
Business Insider revealed in August that “For example, ISIS
brings in nearly $12 million a month in revenues from extortion and other shady practices in the Iraqi city of Mosul alone.”
The U.S. Treasury
recently confirmed plans to try to bankrupt the militant group by targeting its oil businesses and imposing sanctions on those financing them.
I will expect that we
will have an impact on ISIL’s financial situation long before 36 months.
But this is not going to be a case of, we flip a light switch and all
of a sudden all of their financial resources have disappeared.
Certainly the American intelligence community has shown its own cyber chops
in the recent (if virtual) tête-à-tête with North Korea. But how much
more effective would Anonymous be using a somewhat less straightforward
approach?
What will #OpCharlieHebdo mean for ISIL’s prospects?
Certainly the military struggle must continue. But given Anonymous’
declaration of war, democracy’s struggle – and that of the United
States, though it is no doubt help the federal government does not want –
might have just become a great deal easier.
