What does the world's "richest terrorist organization" do with its growing revenue, a reported $250 million surplus,
and a delusional-yet-existential need to establish some international
legitimacy? How about start a bank? Or, perhaps, pay some salaries or
provide money for charity?
Even as the American-led coalition continues to conduct airstrikes against the group, the Islamic State may be following the examples set by other terrorist organizations in attempting to mimic the operations of a real government. In an interview with London's al-Araby al-Jadeed (grain of salt here), a tribal leader based in Mosul⎯a major Iraqi city that ISIS took control of last summer⎯said that the group has set up a bank
there. The report added that ISIS has also delivered a $2-billion
budget that includes basic services like education, construction, and
welfare for the poor and disabled.
While
any news out of Mosul is difficult to confirm, if the group has
actually managed to form a bank, it would mirror a paradigm set by the
Taliban, which established itself as a brutal ruling regime in
Afghanistan, despite the fact that its leadership wasn't universally
embraced. Imran Khan notes the comparison for Al Jazeera: