Oil: Air strikes hit ISIL where it hurts

[webfact]

Oil: Air strikes hit ISIL where it hurts



PARIS: -- With oil revenue reckoned to provide ISIL militants with more than $1 million a day, Russian bombers have targeted tankers and refinery facilities controlled by the extremists in Syria.

Russian military spokesman Col. General Andrei Kartapolov presented satellite images of the air strikes, telling a briefing at the Defence Ministry:

“You can see hundreds of fuel tankers in columns.

“In recent days, the air force has destroyed 500 vehicles. This has significantly hampered the militants’ ability to export fuel and, as a result, it has hit their profits from oil smuggling.”



Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his defence chiefs to redouble their campaign against ISIL, in Syria and elsewhere, after Russian officials confirmed that a bomb had brought down a Russian passenger jet in Egypt on October 31, killing 224 people

Separately, US-led air strikes have hit at least 177 targets in the so-called Islamic State’s main oil-producing region over the past month.

France has sent its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean in its intensified campaign, following ISIL’s claim of responsibility for Friday’s deadly terror attacks in Paris which left 129 people dead.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Thursday that he believed Russia is open to cooperation in forming a grand coalition against the militant group.

With this in mind, French President Francois Hollande will meet President Putin and US President Obama next week.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-11-20

[Seastallion]

Why weren't the tankers and the oil infrastructure hit months ago? Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

[ChrisY1]

It really makes us wonder why the US and coalition forces have been avoiding these convoys and refineries for so long.......

It took the Russians to start destroying the plainly obvious.....the source of much of IS funding and supplies for the massive IS convoys of vehicles.

The US has some questions that need to be answered and using the "supposed" threat of collateral damage as the answer, just won't cut it!

Edited November 20, 2015 by ChrisY1

[Credo]

If the US hit those targets the world would be enraged. They would be accused of trying to be the 'World's Policeman'. Exploding refineries would be causing environmental damage. There would be pictures of an innocent child killed by 'collateral damage', and the US would be insensitive to the locals.

The US doing it is warmongering and murder. The Russians and French doing it is justifiable homicide.

[oneday]

As an American, I am surprised to say this, but great move on the part of Russia.

[BuaBS]

Sure more pollution , meanwhile they're holding Volkwagen/Audi by the balls for some dirty diesel . And letting us pay for global warming.

[happy Joe]

Why weren't the tankers and the oil infrastructure hit months ago? Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

In the west a large number of person of which I belonged estimated that the Middle-East conflict primarily between factions of Shiite and Sunni Islam was not ours.

The responsibilities for attack of Paris claimed by IS changed the situation. Now we are concretely attacked on our ground. Consequently we have the right and the duty to defend us.

[fakename]

How about bombing the "buyers" of the oil? Surely we know who they are!

[simon43]

To reduce the risk of harming civilians, two F-15 warplanes dropped leaflets about an hour before the attack warning drivers to abandon their vehicles

The drivers are not innocent civilians - they are knowingly helping ISIL.

[quote

Why weren't the tankers and the oil infrastructure hit months ago? Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

A very good question that needs an urgent and honest answer from the US. Seems to be that the US is playing some sort of 'dirty war' here, whilst the Russians make no secret about what they are doing or what their targets and enemy are.

In terms of the propaganda war, US is definitely losing to the Russians.

[Nowisee]

bombing things is fun and people need that immediate gratification.

I know next to nothing about this next part, only what I read and the source I turn to most often is Sam Harris. His basic premise is as follows;

what really needs to happen is the islamic community, the muslim people need to change the characterization of the quran and get behind this to put pressure on their own religious community.
the fundamentals of islam are in need of change. we are at war with islam

[Orac]

As I understand it, the oil is being sold by ISIL directly from the refineries to private individuals and transport companies who basically take a number on arrival at the refineries and then queue up for a load - over a month in some cases.

A lot of this oil is then trucked on to the various factions that are fighting ISIS/Assad.

[geriatrickid]

How about bombing the "buyers" of the oil? Surely we know who they are!

The oil is trucked out to Iran, Turkey and Jordan. From there it satisfies local market needs and some of it ends up in the world market, going to countries who do not apply sanctions. Past consumers of sanctioned oil have been India, North and South Korea.

The travesty of all this is that the key purchasers are Turkey and Iran, both of which claim to be at war with ISIL. Had the west bombed Iranian and Turkish nationals, we would have been treated to the largest display of hypocritical hand ringing. Some of the people in this forum who are blaming the USA for not bombing these oil tankers, would have been frothing at the mouth had the USA killed "innocent" Iranian "aid workers" etc.

The reality is that the new Canadian PM is already so terrified of the consequences that he has announced the pullout of Canadian fighter jets. There's been a lot of complaining from the "socially conscious" that bombing isn't right. They are also afraid that ISIL might set off a bomb in one of Canada's jihadist hubs of Toronto or Montreal. The Hollande command to bomb is pure politics. Down in the polls and facing a fast erosion of support, this pathetic excuse for a national leader has discovered some good ole nationalism. Where was he 3 months ago when the UK and USA were asking for his support?

The reality is that the Russians have been indiscriminately bombing the opponents of the Assad regime, specifically targeting the Free Syrian Army and others opposed to ISIL. The Russians are not heros and their efforts are not against ISIL per se, but are in support of Assad and Iranian proxy ground forces.

[MaxYakov]

To reduce the risk of harming civilians, two F-15 warplanes dropped leaflets about an hour before the attack warning drivers to abandon their vehicles, and strafing runs were conducted to reinforce the message.

Dear oh dear...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/middleeast/us-strikes-syria-oil.html

I hope the leaflets did not leave the F-15s in a form (such as large, bound bales) that could have caused injury to ISIS personnel (euphemism). I also hope they were bio-degradable.

Do you suppose the ISIS personnel are running low on toilet paper these days because this action could be seen as aiding and abetting the enemy. There may also be global climate change issues with all the trees that were used.

Incidentally, the bombers shown in the OP appear to be Russian type Tupolev Tu-22M.

Edited November 20, 2015 by MaxYakov

[MaxYakov]

To reduce the risk of harming civilians, two F-15 warplanes dropped leaflets about an hour before the attack warning drivers to abandon their vehicles, and strafing runs were conducted to reinforce the message.

Dear oh dear...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/middleeast/us-strikes-syria-oil.html

I hope the leaflets did not leave the F-15s in a form (such as large, bound bales) that could have caused injury to ISIS personnel (euphemism). I also hope they were bio-degradable.

Do you suppose the ISIS personnel are running low on toilet paper these days because this action could be seen as aiding and abetting the enemy. There may also be climate change issues.

It is aiding and abetting the enemy

...and I don't believe for a moment that US jets have bombed ISIS targets

I seems to me a valid point.

Obama is running the risk of generally doing an A&A number with both his ISIS "containment" stragedy and is Syrian refugee position as well as who-knows-what things we aren't being told about such as resistance to providing more than just small arms and hand grenades to the Kurd fighters.

Anyway, shucks. I was so looking forward to seeing the A-10 and C-130 attack video footage on the History Channel (after ISIS sells it to them).

Edited November 20, 2015 by MaxYakov

[Naam]

interesting!

it could also be that, as Sergei Lavrov suggested earlier this week, the US has until now intentionally avoided hitting ISIS where it hurts in order to keep them in the game and ensure they can still be effective at destabilizing Assad.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-19/caught-tape-russian-air-force-destroys-dozens-isis-oil-trucks

[car720]

How about bombing the "buyers" of the oil? Surely we know who they are!

The oil is trucked out to Iran, Turkey and Jordan. From there it satisfies local market needs and some of it ends up in the world market, going to countries who do not apply sanctions. Past consumers of sanctioned oil have been India, North and South Korea.

The travesty of all this is that the key purchasers are Turkey and Iran, both of which claim to be at war with ISIL. Had the west bombed Iranian and Turkish nationals, we would have been treated to the largest display of hypocritical hand ringing. Some of the people in this forum who are blaming the USA for not bombing these oil tankers, would have been frothing at the mouth had the USA killed "innocent" Iranian "aid workers" etc.

The reality is that the new Canadian PM is already so terrified of the consequences that he has announced the pullout of Canadian fighter jets. There's been a lot of complaining from the "socially conscious" that bombing isn't right. They are also afraid that ISIL might set off a bomb in one of Canada's jihadist hubs of Toronto or Montreal. The Hollande command to bomb is pure politics. Down in the polls and facing a fast erosion of support, this pathetic excuse for a national leader has discovered some good ole nationalism. Where was he 3 months ago when the UK and USA were asking for his support?

The reality is that the Russians have been indiscriminately bombing the opponents of the Assad regime, specifically targeting the Free Syrian Army and others opposed to ISIL. The Russians are not heros and their efforts are not against ISIL per se, but are in support of Assad and Iranian proxy ground forces.

Sorry man, I cannot agree this time.

I am not a warrior nor a pugilist of any type. I understand nothing of confrontation with another man except the pain it will cause me. If he is causing me pain I want it to stop. If I think he will not stop until I am dead then I want to stab him in the heart with my knife.

The Russians may not know where the heart is but at least they are stabbing.

These people will not stop until we are all dead. So I say, SHOW ME WHERE THE HEART IS so that I can stab it.

[Colabamumbai]

A guaranteed increase in the price of oil and gasoline in the near future. Assad also depends on this oil.

[than]

I hope coalition will strike the IS oil customer : Turkey....

the main IS oil buyer is Turkey

[BuaBS]

If I had to choose between ISIS pure diesel and this Thai palmoil crap , I 'd buy the ISIS diesel.

[slapout]

Putin mentioned they had photos which showed lorries /trucks lined up from a oil loading point to beyond the horizen,awaiting loading. Now if the photo was taken from 10,000 feet, that could indicate about 120 miles of trucks that were in view. If satellite was the source of this info the 120 miles could be much greater.

The claim of 500 destroyed by Russia and 177 targets??? (possible trucks) hit by US It does not sound like they made much of a dent in the total vehicle numbers. But I am sure they have a joint agreed upon plan that will surprise eveyone concerned when it becomes known.

[Wombat6]

If the US hit those targets the world would be enraged. They would be accused of trying to be the 'World's Policeman'. Exploding refineries would be causing environmental damage. There would be pictures of an innocent child killed by 'collateral damage', and the US would be insensitive to the locals.

The US doing it is warmongering and murder. The Russians and French doing it is justifiable homicide.

perhaps you can give us your thoughts on a solution ! you sound a bit like an apologist. in support of ISIL.

[Skywalker69]

Why weren't the tankers and the oil infrastructure hit months ago? Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

Including Paris the russian aircraft that was shot down I think was a wakeup call for Putin.

[Skywalker69]

If I had to choose between ISIS pure diesel and this Thai palmoil crap , I 'd buy the ISIS diesel.

Doing that is supporting ISIS.

[augustwest]

When will the USA learn. They took out Hussein and Ghadafi or rather Bush did,and look what they got. Let Assad be for now and the USAnd Rissia can join forces. The Us dropped 500 M in supplies to people fighting Assad a few days after Russia got involved and we are not sure of the allegiances of the anti-Assad forces. The Kurds on the other hand have got squat when they've showed a willingness to bring the fight to ISIS Why? If the Chinese were willing to get on board and the US doesn't get involved with the South China Sea mess it would be a good trade off.

Putin doesn't give a rats ass for PC but our American president may just be a Moslem as a friend tried to convince me 3 years ago. Just seems that way to me. ISIS if not yet will be very soon a global problem and the big players have to coalesce into a force that can take down ISIS once and for all

[Mudcrab]

To reduce the risk of harming civilians, two F-15 warplanes dropped leaflets about an hour before the attack warning drivers to abandon their vehicles, and strafing runs were conducted to reinforce the message.

Dear oh dear...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/middleeast/us-strikes-syria-oil.html

I hope the leaflets did not leave the F-15s in a form (such as large, bound bales) that could have caused injury to ISIS personnel (euphemism). I also hope they were bio-degradable.

Do you suppose the ISIS personnel are running low on toilet paper these days because this action could be seen as aiding and abetting the enemy. There may also be global climate change issues with all the trees that were used.

Incidentally, the bombers shown in the OP appear to be Russian type Tupolev Tu-22M.

Don't get concerned Max, the leaflets would be biodegradable and made from paper sourced from environmentally sustainable farmed plantations.

[Mudcrab]

interesting!

it could also be that, as Sergei Lavrov suggested earlier this week, the US has until now intentionally avoided hitting ISIS where it hurts in order to keep them in the game and ensure they can still be effective at destabilizing Assad.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-19/caught-tape-russian-air-force-destroys-dozens-isis-oil-trucks

Very interesting when you consider one of the first actions the French under took was to bomb the ISIS training camps after the Paris event.

How did they find them in such a short time when, apparently, nobody else could? or wanted to.

[Mudcrab]

Why weren't the tankers and the oil infrastructure hit months ago? Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

Why did it take Paris before anyone did something proactive?

Including Paris the russian aircraft that was shot down I think was a wakeup call for Putin.

Hopefully the murder of the Chinese man might get China riled up.

Now that would be interesting.

An opportunity to test their technology in real world conditions plus say 300,000 ground troops in Iraq/Syria with none of the foolish western concepts of the rule of war to limit their actions. I reckon ISIS might sit up and take notice.

Very interesting indeed.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Mudcrab

[billd766]

To reduce the risk of harming civilians, two F-15 warplanes dropped leaflets about an hour before the attack warning drivers to abandon their vehicles, and strafing runs were conducted to reinforce the message.

Dear oh dear...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/17/world/middleeast/us-strikes-syria-oil.html

I hope the leaflets did not leave the F-15s in a form (such as large, bound bales) that could have caused injury to ISIS personnel (euphemism). I also hope they were bio-degradable.

Do you suppose the ISIS personnel are running low on toilet paper these days because this action could be seen as aiding and abetting the enemy. There may also be global climate change issues with all the trees that were used.

Incidentally, the bombers shown in the OP appear to be Russian type Tupolev Tu-22M.

Now I thought that as they were turboprop aircraft that they were the Tupolev TU 95 Bear bombers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95

[allanos]

The key purchasers of the "Daesh" (I refuse to call them IS or ISIL) oil may be Turkey

and Iran, but they are not alone. Vladimir Putin has stated that 40 countries are

buying this oil, including members of the G20. This is absolutely disgraceful, and

shows how devious the world of politics is.

However, follow the money!

Who are the brokers who are arranging the purchase of the Daesh oil for resale?

Big business is totally amoral. They are making a fast buck whilst the Middle East

is engulfed in flames!