VOA慢速英语2014 How Do Islamic State Militants Finance Their Operations?

 

How Do Islamic State Militants² Finance Their Operations?

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News. 

This week, the United States Congress approved part of President Barack Obama’s plan to defeat Islamic State militants. The Senate voted Thursday to equip and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight the militant¹ group. The measure was tied to a bill that will guarantee money to pay for U.S. government operations into December.

The vote came a day after the House of Representatives agreed to help the Syrian rebels against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

The measure represents the only action U.S. lawmakers are likely to take before congressional elections in November. Florida Senator Bill Nelson is a member of Mr. Obama’s Democratic Party. He compared the effort against the militants to fighting a wild animal.

“When it comes to Syria -- and that's where the head of the ISIS snake is -- if you're going to kill the snake, you have to go to where the head is and chop it off.” 

The Islamic State has seized parts of Syria and Iraq. The Wall Street Journal newspaper says more than eight million people live in areas under the group’s control.

How do the Islamic State militants get money to support their operations? Observers say some money comes from kidnapping, human trafficking, and the secret movement of goods across borders. Other financing reportedly comes as a result of threats made to local officials and businesses.

But most of the money comes from sales of oil, often to secret buyers. U.S. intelligence officials and observers say the militant group earns at least one million dollars a day from such sales.

Howard Shatz is with the RAND Corporation, a public policy group. He has studied the Islamic State. In his opinion, the group is “operating as a state, but it is a criminal state.”

Islamists set their sights on the area’s oil industry years ago. Mr. Shatz says they made threats to employees at the Beiji oil refinery³ in northern Iraq. They reportedly collected about two billion dollars from the employees between 2006 and 2009. 

The Associated Press news agency estimates that Islamic State forces controlled 11 oil fields in Iraq and Syria, as of last weekend.

The United States is using air strikes and political pressure in hopes of stopping the oil sales. In Washington, a State Department official told reporters earlier this month that, “we believe that oil smuggled⁴ out by trucks through the Jordanian and Turkish borders is a serious problem." He added that “both those countries have pledged to do all they can to stop it.”

Observers say recent videos of the Islamic State executing hostages have more than propaganda value. They say the images also serve as ransom⁵ notes for other kidnap victims.

The United States and Britain have repeatedly said they do not make payments for the release of their citizens. But some countries do. Last month, CBS News reported that a European company “paid a $70,000 ransom for a kidnapped employee.”

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。