How the US Became a Toyota Dealer for ISIS

Guest Post by Claire Bernish

 

(ANTIMEDIA) Middle East — If you’ve ever stumbled across genuine Islamic State propaganda videos or photos and their loose resemblance to car commercials — albeit with a notably dystopic terror-cult tinge — you probably quizzically crinkled your brow. But after time spent perusing more oddly indistinguishable ISIS propaganda than you’d care to remember, that crinkled brow surely crystallized into veritable folklore:

Where did ISIS get all those new Toyota trucks?!

Now, at long last, U.S. counterterrorism officials have commenced an ostensibly earnest attempt to answer that open question — by asking Toyota how, exactly, ISIS came to possess such an impressive array of its late-model pick-ups and SUVs.

In response, Toyota claims to have no idea how it happened — partly because tracking vehicle sales won’t necessarily catch middlemen or wholesalers with terrorist ties.

And after all, the company maintains a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” according to Ed Lewis, Toyota’s director of public policy and communications in Washington, as reported by ABC News. “We briefed Treasury on Toyota’s supply chains in the Middle East and the procedures Toyota has in place to protect supply chain integrity.”

Lewis’ reference to “Treasury” is Toyota’s pledge to “support” an inquiry by the U.S. Treasury Department’s rather problematically-monikered Terror Financing Unit — which is one ostensible arm of a purposefully nonspecific “effort” to somehow prevent ISIS from acquiring Western stuff.

“This is a question we’ve been asking our neighbors,” beseeched Iraqi Ambassador to the U.S., Lukman Faily. “How could these brand new trucks . . . these four-wheel drives, hundreds of them — where are they coming from?”

Toyota’s Land Cruisers and its overseas version of the Tacoma — the dubious Hilux — have become a notoriously iconic feature of ISIS.

“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” explained Mark Wallace, CEO of the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project, which tracks and exposes financial networks that back terrorism, to ABC News. “ISIS has used these vehicles in order to engage in military-type activities, terror activities, and the like. But in nearly every ISIS video, they show a fleet — a convoy of Toyota vehicles and that’s very concerning to us.”

ISIS inevitably procures a bevy of U.S. military accoutrements abandoned by or otherwise wrested from Iraqi fighters, who purportedly ditched some 2,300 Humvees in retreat near Mosul — ghanimah, or spoils — a veritable boon for ISIS militants. But, as you’re likely well aware, ISIS’ spoils include decidedly more dangerous items than Toyotas and Humvees.

According to examples cited by Reuters, besides the Humvees, ISIS’ spoils include:

  • Innumerable small arms and ammunition
  • 52 Howitzer M198 mobile gun systems
  • 74,000 machine guns
  • 40 main M1A1 battle tanks

And Iraqi butterfingers naturally translated into additional search and destroy missions for U.S. military to essentially track down its own weapons. As Peter Van Buren mused,

“It’s a surreal state of affairs in which American weaponry is being sent into Iraq to destroy American weaponry previously sent into Iraq. If a new sequel to Catch-22 were to be written, this would be the plot line.”

To destroy ISIS’ tanks, originally sent to aid Iraqi forces, the U.S. — logically enough — proceeded to ship Iraqi forces 175 Abrams tanks; 55,000 rounds of tank ammo; $600 million in howitzers and trucks; 2,000 AT-4 rockets; and $700 million in Hellfire missiles.

Throwing money at ‘it’ seems to be the Department of Defense’s stopgap, default answer to every issue — hence the veritable braintrust so apparent in this plan.

Brush away that trepidation, though. Should this entire shipment fall to the Islamic State, Congress already approved an additional $1.2 billion earlier this year — specifically to help bolster Iraqi forces.

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kokoda
kokoda

ISIS weaponry is getting destroyed by Russia, so the U.S. is re-supplying ISIS via the Iraq route. Hey, it worked before.

Gator
Gator

Selling someone weapons that they “lose” to the enemy, and then selling everyone more weapons to destroy those weapons they initially lost. Creating a demand for a product when you also control the supply of said product. few million in campaign contributions is chump change for the billions in profits. ANd the best part is, the american tax payer is FORCED to pay for it all. Nice gig if you can get it…

Stucky

Dear ISIS fag boys

Russia, and Iran, and China are on their way.

You should start converting those Toyota’s to this ….
comment image

Just sayin’ ….

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

Terrorists driving Toyotas are the best advertisements Toyota could ever have. American auto makers lamely counter with…Onstar.

Monger
Monger

really 40 Fn tanks, good ones too , wdf ,

US$6.21 million (M1A2 / FY99)[3] Estimated in 2012 as US$8.58 million (with inflation adjustment)
like 400 million dollars… mofoers,
only 2 conclusions can be drawn from this, its criminal, and we are losing bad,

GilbertS
GilbertS

There’s also the issue of fakes from China and India. When I was there, we saw lots of knockoff Chinese trucks that were dead-on copies of Mitsubishi pickups with names like, “Great Wall,” “Deer,” and “TaTa.” I used to have some kind of knockoff SUV called an Exceed Galloper which was some kind of knockoff of a Mitsubishi. My team just called it the FOB Slut. Actually, the civilian vehicles don’t really matter. As if the terrorists who seized half of Iraq and Syria couldn’t take very vehicle they saw. I’m much more interested in the military stuff the Iraqis abandoned. Why would you abandon an M1A tank to a bunch of ragheads driving technicals?!?! Then again, we’re talking about Iraqis. They’re arguably some of the worst soldiers on the entire planet. There are kids raised on Call of Duty who would be easier to work with. All the Iraqis are good for is Friday night lovin’ with their buddies and selling off whatever gear they can steal.

Kaboom
Kaboom

Look, just in Sydney Australia, some 800 Toyota HiLux utilities were stolen in fiscal year ending June 2015.

If you look closely. a lot of the ISIS trucks are right-hand drive.

Sydney has had two jihadi incidents in the last year.

Correlation or causation?

Kaboom
Kaboom

Good God! I rarely post here, but my new avatar seems to have this enormous green droopy “thing” popping out from lower clothing.

Hmmm.

TE
TE

@Kaboom, if not signing in and just free commenting, change your email address, it will change the avatar. At least that’s what happens to me

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