The Secret War Of ISIS

     The phenomenal growth of ISIS, from a ragtag gang of not much more than street thugs, to an organized army with over 30,000 members that have gained control of over a third of Iraq proper, has been a spectacle to behold. The more spectacular aspect of the "radicalize or die" mentality that has overtaken much of the Middle East in the last 6 years is the ineptness and fecklessness of Barack Obama to properly deal with the threat when it was much more manageable, only a few short months ago.
     ISIS now has a huge portfolio of oil holdings in the Middle East, which not only supplies it with the cash necessary to rain down terror on anyone they label as an infidel, but the power to fight an economic war against the United States. The oil arm of ISIS has contracted with many European countries to sell them oil at $15 a barrel, far below the $90+ a barrel it has recently traded for on the open market.
     The collapsing of the oil market will have an economically devastating effect on the U.S. and its ability to defeat an enemy that grows not only in military might every day, but also in its influence throughout the financial markets. Mention of this unspoken war being waged by ISIS is nowhere to be found in the main stream media, but some in the investment community have begun to murmur about it.
     Some may say, "Good, we need cheaper oil." But this large of a precipitous fall in oil prices could have a ripple effect throughout financial markets that could rival the collapse of 2008. The costs of exploration, drilling, and extraction have continued to rise, and will not fall with the artificial discounting of the barrel price. The U.S. oil industry could be severely curtailed because the costs of production will be so much greater than the price for which they can sell their product. Thousands of jobs would be loss and many smaller drillers would be forced out of business, causing a collapse of the stock market.
     Of course the ability of ISIS to wage this economic war successfully against the United States is predicated upon their continued survival and growth. And that growth is dependent on the action, or inaction, of the United States government and its allies with regards to ISIS. If they are allowed to gain control of Iraq (the country with the fourth largest oil reserves in the world) through inaction or limited action by the Obama administration, we are in for a long and economically brutal campaign, matched only by their physical barbarism on and off the battlefield.