While the “moderate” rebels are always pleading poverty to the US, the more successful rebel factions, particularly al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and Jabhat al-Nusra, never seem to have that problem. But where do their deep pockets come from?
Oil, as it turns out. New reports reveal that the al-Qaeda factions have considerable control over Syria’s oil and gas reserves, and have been smuggling the oil into Turkey and Iraq to be sold “wherever they can find a buyer.”
Nusra has some, but AQI has the most, with the Raqqa Province one of Syria’s richest oil producers and also virtually entirely under their control. Companies in the region confirmed as much, saying the Assad government “practically doesn’t control anything anymore.”
Not that al-Qaeda controls all of the nation’s oil, as the autonomous Kurdish region has considerable reserves of their own. Still and all, al-Qaeda factions control the majority, and even while Assad continues to try to make deals with Russian oil companies, his position is no doubt weaker because he’s making deals for fields his government only owns on paper, and may never really control again.
You must be kidding Jason right? How much oil can these bandits-barbarians deliver and in how many trucks transporting it into Iraq and or Turkey and for how much would they be able to sale it to get the costs of buying new weapons, and whom would they buy the weapons from?
Although they might have some control in the area where the Syrian oil and gas is, but delivering them is another story, the borders in Turkey, the borders in Iraq, the trucks, the drivers and etc. If it was that easy and as you say "Syrian government doesn't control any thing any more" then who are the people in Geneva negotiating for peace in Syria. World is referring to them as the Syrian government, just fir you to know. Saudi Arabia, Wahhabis, Qatar's and other tyrants regimes paying the bill and is the EU and US weapons, along with Saudi and Wahhabis barbarians that are killing the Syrian people.
"his government only owns on paper, and may never really control again".
So Ditz has consulted his award winning crystal ball again, or is it just outright wishful thinking? We may never know because even the usual links to various US corporate media outlets to support those claims are absent.
It is common knowledge that ISIS in Al-Raqqa, in a Mad Max kind of thing,control a few wells where child labour is used to extract oil by hand (even BBC run´s a few stories on this). Very hazardous indeed since they are exposed to toxic fumes for 12 hour a day or more, not to mention the hard work for 9-10-year olds and above. The pumps and the oil-infrastructure has been out of order since 3 years already. The Turks buy or barter most of whatever manage to get there because SAF´s UAV surveillance gives info directly whenever one of those few hard-earned trucks leaves for Turkey and they are immediately bombed to ashes by Mig 29´s, so the Syrian government aren´t particularly concerned about that for now. Other than sending a few trucks in exchange for weapons on the spot when desperately needed, Al-Qaeda and it´s franchise of bearded freaks are regularly funded and armed (US) by Saudi Arabia so why would they risk their lives for something they already have or easily can get their hands on? It makes no sense. The Syrian oil and gas fields at sea on the other hand is quite another thing (and one of the reasons the US wanted this war, the other beside israels quest for puppet regimes and lebensraum, is the routes of pipelines from the Gulf). Since signing the deal, Russia is already drilling and prospecting and has the biggest naval armada since soviet times patrolling the eastern Mediterranean to back it up, should the israelis or their "partners" (in crime) try something stupid. That armada possibly saved millions of lives when the US called off the war in making and withdrew it´s fleet beyond Crete 6 moths ago and it still does.
And this is why we support all the good bad and ugly head-hunters. They have what we want.
This is a conspiracy theory. Governments aren't interested in oil, and it is lewd to suggest that they are. Just ask the oil executives who controlled the US government in the Bush regime and illegally invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Or ask Hillary. She knows about these nutty conspiracies: http://empireslayer.blogspot.com/2014/01/us-imper…
sarcasm
Who's side is Ditz on; "Govt 'Practically Doesn't Control Anything Anymore'' Really?
There isn't a "side" to be "on." The choice between Islamist murderers and Ba'athist murderers isn't a choice at all.
And you are on your side of…… Idiocy if you see no different between Saudis barbarians, or the social values in democracy and nationalist, or as you call it, Baathist. Do you know what Baathist means, do you have any clue what their political platform is about, du you have any clue what their social political consist of, I give you a clue, free healthcare and free education.
Yes, I know what Ba'athism is. Apparently you don't. I've read the pro-Ba'athist literature, e.g. Afleq, I've read the anti-Ba'athist literature, e.g. Kamiya, and I've seen Ba'athism in action. Ba'athism is pan-Arabism in principle and fascism in practice.
I didn't say there's "no difference" between evil, barbaric Islamists and evil murderous Ba'athists. I said that the choice between them isn't a choice worth pretending matters.
I'm certainly against any US support whatsoever for the Islamist rebels in Syria. That doesn't mean I have to pretend that Assad is anything but the totalitarian butcher he is.
This article is clearly blunt propaganda. I must also disagree with calling assad a dictator, this is the picture the west/israel and the evil gulf states want the masses to swollow, CIA organised the violent protests in which government forces were attacked first! Its really funny that people want to now blame a secular and democratically elected government for defending itself against terrorist after the US fought and insurgancy war in iraq for over a decade. How easily people are still brainwashed by bias media with interests in spewing lies to cover mistakes, invent pretexts to form proxy wars etc. Wake up folks you are being played as fools and laughed at.