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If We Take His Website Seriously, Trump’s First Order Of Business On ISIS Should Be To Pressure Assad

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump’s website declares his first order of business will be to defeat ISIS, who gets the majority of its oil revenue from the Assad regime.

Trump’s new foreign policy section of his website says, “Defeating ISIS and other radical Islamic terror groups will be our highest priority,” and continues, promising that “the Trump Administration will work with international partners to cut off funding for terrorist groups.”

ISIS is increasingly relying on the Assad regime to buy the oil from refineries they control inside Syria, the Wall Street Journal reports. ISIS “revenue and energy generation is being supported by the Syrian regime,” a senior U.S. state department official told TheWSJ.

The Obama administration made a major point of going after ISIS oil revenue, frequently striking the group’s oil tanker convoys. The matter of confronting Assad’s continued buying of ISIS oil will be difficult to navigate for Trump. Trump has indicated he wants to work with Russia inside Syria to defeat ISIS. Russia is the main sponsor of the Syrian regime, which relies heavily on the oil produced by ISIS.

Syrian capital, Damascus, reportedly relies on ISIS-held territory oil to power its generators. Assad’s ability to provide goods and services to the people of Damascus is a key sign of his legitimacy among the capital’s population, and likely outweigh his vow to fight the terrorist group.

Prior to the groups loss of oil refineries in Iraq it was making nearly 50 million dollars a month, to fund its vast terrorist operations. The group often sells pre-refined oil at bargain prices, making the proposition attractive to governments and groups who may remain hostile to radical Islam.

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