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Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by misja111 on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @11:01AM (#10938967)
According to this (http://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/isis-oil/) Financial Times article, oil is ISIS' single greatest source of revenue. It is supposed to bring in 1.1 million dollars a day.

A funny thing about the oil transports is that until not so long ago they were sort of a public secret. Because it was Turkey, USA's NATO ally, where most of those transports were going to, but Turkey was of course denying that.

Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by jfoutz on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @11:39AM (#10939278)
I bet it's almost all this [1]. it was like $100+ a barrel back in 2014. It's a tough time to be in the oil business.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/19/oil-prices-fall-further-on-gl...

Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by jcrites on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @01:33PM (#10940243)
So, ISIS earns 1/5th the daily revenue of than Clash of Clans, or about the same revenue as ~250 McDonalds stores?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-11-clash-of-cl...

Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by Retric on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @01:42PM (#10940303)
As a sanity check: ISIS soldiers earn between $400 and $1,200 a month, plus a $50 stipend for their wives and $25 for each child, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Call it ~1,000 / month or ~30$ a day. Let's assume 1/3 of that 1 million / day goes to fighters and the rest is overhead. ~= 10,000 fighters which is a significant force and importantly it's replaceable with new recruits.

PS: Though that could significantly understate things if the average is closer to say 500$ per month and / or overhead is lower and paid with other income sources.

Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by gohrt on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @02:55PM (#10940861)
Those numbers seem far too high. ISIS pays soldiers more than China and Russia do?
Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by Retric on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @03:32PM (#10941112)
This may be a question of direct vs. indirect pay. China and Russia both provide food / shelter / equipment which ISIS may skimp on. Also, ISIS is in a major war relative to there size so hazard pay is an issue.

Anyway poking around the web it looks like they are somewhere between 7,000 and 35,000 fighters which seems to be in the right ballpark for 1Million / day revenue.

PS: And of course graft is a major issue.

Re:ISIS cuts its fighters' salaries by 50% by Someone1234 on Wednesday January 20, 2016 @02:34PM (#10940710)
Small note, 1/5th of the daily revenue for Supercell as a whole, not for Clash of Clans alone (although that is likely the lion's share).

This doesn't change the overall thrust of your point. Just noting for accuracy only.