Antiquities Destruction and Illicit Sales As Sources of ISIS Funding and Propaganda

The United States is currently a leading player in the military coalition waging war against the Islamic State Organization (often called by its older name of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham or ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. The purpose of this coalition was initially to rollback and degrade ISIS capabilities and then ultimately to destroy the organization. This effort has been made in coordination with the Iraqi government, regional allies, allies from outside of the region, and local anti-ISIS groups including various Kurdish organizations. An important part of this strategy is to disrupt, reduce, and if possible, eliminate major sources of ISIS revenue, thereby hollowing out the organization from the inside while it is under pressure. The most well-known sources of ISIS funding are oil stolen from the areas the group now occupies and taxes and fines levied on the populations under their control.