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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    How Long Can the Islamic State Stay in Business?

    The richest terrorist group in history is financed not just by smuggling oil and selling looted antiquities. It may get as much as a billion dollars a year from taxation on individuals and businesses subject to a system of brutal enforcement.

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    By Warren Olney • Dec 10, 2015 • 34m Listen

    The richest terrorist group in history is financed not just by smuggling oil and selling looted antiquities. It may get as much as a billion dollars a year from taxation on individuals and businesses subject to a system of brutal enforcement. While increased bombing may deplete oil revenues, beatings and even beheadings are taking a toll on formerly middle class people. We hear about a model of governance that could threaten the sustainability of the Islamic State from the inside.

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      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Paul von Zielbauer

      Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times

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      Gideon Brower

      Independent Producer

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      Evan George

      Director of Content, News

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      Matthew Rosenberg

      New York Times

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      Yasser Alhaji

      Syrian journalist

    • KCRW placeholder

      Michael D. Weiss

      Daily Beast / The Interpreter

      NewsNationalPolitics
    Back to To the Point