A second front opens in the war to stop ISIL

Cutting off group’s sources of funding will be just as important as air strikes against their fighters

The fight against ISIL targets its fighters, shown here, but also its sources of income. Photo: Reuters

When the threat of ISIL is eventually neutralised, those who deserve credit will include far more than just those clad in military fatigues. The nature of modern warfare – and particularly against militant extremist groups such as ISIL – requires not just military might but also cutting off sources of funding.

Those clad in officewear also serve on the front line of the war against terror through the parallel campaign to choke ISIL's sources of funding. As The National reported yesterday, these two fronts combined when coalition warplanes bombed oil facilities the group controls to reduce its sources of income. The fact that the Assad regime is often the buyer of oil from ISIL, as columnist Hassan Hassan noted, serves as yet more proof that the regime actively facilitated the rise of militant groups in the civil war.

This approach recognises that one of ISIL’s strengths – a reported force of 30,000 fighters at its disposal – is also a strategic weakness. Such a force requires a huge and sophisticated support system to be functional, both in terms of money and resources. Although ISIL has taken over Iraqi army bases in Mosul and elsewhere, the reality is it cannot survive purely on plundered munitions. It also needs significant sums of money.

With an influx of fighters attracted by its success, ISIL is certain to be experiencing growing pains because of an excess of jihadis and a deficit of those capable of keeping them supplied with everything they need. Some analysts, such as Hussein Ibish in these pages yesterday, have expressed their belief that the group has already over-reached itself.

The second front in the fight against ISIL is designed to exploit this vulnerability. Besides destroying the group’s ability to generate money from oil production, attempts to cut off donations to it are also beginning to pay dividends. This includes Kuwait’s newly-created financial intelligence unit and enforcement of Qatar’s new law regulating charitable contributions to ensure none is channelling funds that will eventually swell ISIL’s coffers.

The US-led coalition that formed to fight ISIL was repeatedly advised that its mission could not succeed through air strikes alone. That is true, but the gains that can be reaped by cutting off the group’s funding is an important factor entirely separate to questions about the need for boots on the ground but equally important to destroying the group’s capability.