By Jay SyrmopoulosTwo separate U.S government officials have conceded to Turkey’s role in the Islamic State’s illegal oil trade, with one admitting that the terrorist group has earned more than $500 million from the oil trade so far, while at the same time attempting to deflect attention away from the complicity of the Turkish government.
On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Department official Adam Szubin admitted that the Islamic State is moving the contraband oil into Turkey, but attempted to rationalize these actions by claiming that the majority of the stolen oil is being sold to the Assad government.
“Some is coming across the border into Turkey,” admitted Szubin.
“ISIL is selling a great deal of oil to the Assad regime,” Szubin said, claiming that in spite of being at war, the two sides are “still engaged in millions and millions of dollars of trade,” which to some degree is probably true out of necessity, but in no way excuses a NATO member state from financing a global terrorist organization.
Szubin failed to provide any evidence to back up his assertions made against the Assad government. It seems the U.S. is attempting to forward the false narrative first put forth by the Turkish government after being exposed by Russia, as to prove that massive amounts of Islamic State oil was being illegally transported from Iraq and Syria, into Turkey.
Only the day before, at press conference on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby admitted that ISIS was being allowed to transport stolen oil across the Turkish border, and stated that the U.S. wanted Turkish government to close its border with Syria.
Kirby referred to a “98-kilometer stretch” of the Syrian-Turkish border, “which still needs to be closed off because it provides avenues of sustenance for ISIL,” allowing supplies, weapons, fighters, and oil to cross the border virtually unfettered.
“We’re working with the Turks to see what we can do to help close that 98-kilometers stretch off,” said Kirby, adding that “the Turkish government realizes the importance of this stretch of ground as well, and we’re working hard with them to see what we can do to close it off.”
Let’s be extremely clear; if Turkey wanted that “98-kilometer stretch” leading into their country closed, it most certainly would be. The reason that it stays open is to forward the interests of the Turkish government, in spite of the justifications and denials by the U.S. government.
The continued attempts at deflecting attention away from a NATO ally’s complicity in funding the largest global terror entity is unmistakable, as if claiming more of the stolen oil being bought by the Syrian government than that of Turkey makes their cooperation in facilitating terrorism palatable.
Turkey should be held accountable for their continued support of terrorism as a geopolitical tool, but it would be hypocritical for the U.S. to be the ones to do so, as their record is rife with support of terrorism in the name of achieving geopolitical goals.
In the empire of lies, truth is a revolutionary act.
Jay Syrmopoulos is an investigative journalist, free thinker, researcher, and ardent opponent of authoritarianism. He is currently a graduate student at University of Denver pursuing a masters in Global Affairs. Jay’s work has been published on Ben Swann’s Truth in Media, Truth-Out, Raw Story, MintPress News, as well as many other sites. You can follow him on Twitter @sirmetropolis, on Facebook at Sir Metropolis and now on tsu.
