ISIS can rest easy, US Syria 'strikes' just cosmetic, US says it won't hit major ISIS oil fields for fear of harming the environment

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9/25/14, "Green war: To protect the environment, coalition will let ISIS keep major oil wells,," Noah Rothman, Hot Air

"Ed Morrissey has the details on coalition strikes which for the first time targeted mobile petroleum refineries under ISIS control. 

“[CBS News reporter David] Martin says 12 small-scale oil refineries were hit in the eastern desert of Syria,” a CBS report revealed. “According to the Pentagon, the refineries produced between 300 and 500 barrels of petroleum a day, which ISIS used to power its own vehicles and to sell on the black market, bringing in up to $2 million every day in revenue.”

So, one would expect that revenue stream to have been vitiated if not entirely destroyed, right? Not so fast.

“Officials said the strikes wouldn’t target fixed oil fields, a precaution intended to minimize the potential for environmental damage,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. “The U.S. instead targeted small capacity mobile refineries used by Islamic State around northeastern Raqqa province and other locations in eastern Syria, officials said.”

"The modular refineries produce between 300 and 500 barrels of refined oil a day, the defense department said in a statement. The military said that initial indications were that the strikes were successful. The make-shift refineries are located near the towns of Al-Mayadeen and Albukamal in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir Ezzour and in adjacent al-Hasakah province, the Defense Department said.

Islamic State uses the mobile refineries to process oil from the Syrian fields into diesel fuel. The diesel fuel is then smuggled across the border into Turkey."...

The report seems to confirm what many have speculated; that the initial strikes on ISIS targets in Syria will be aimed primarily at degrading rather than destroying Islamic State infrastructure. 

From a strategic perspective, the decision to leave ISIS oil fields intact makes little sense....

The Pentagon seems eager to disabuse the press of the notion that they are conducting an environmentalist war. In a press conference on Thursday, a Pentagon spokesman suggested that the coalition forces were seeking to leave some revenue sources intact for the post-Assad regime:...

While we cannot be sure what the long-term effect of striking ISIS oil fields would be on the environment, we can be positive that not striking them will prolong America’s engagement in Iraq and Syria." via Free Rep.

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Wall St. Journal article linked above is subscription:

9/24/14, "U.S., Allies Target Islamic State Oil Assets," Wall St. Journal, by Julian E. Barnes in Washington and Sam Dagher in Beirut

"Latest Airstrikes Hit Mobile Oil Refineries Controlled by Extremists"

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ISIS genocide against the Kurds continues. The Kurds would be grateful for any crumb, but nothing is being done to save them. The US isn't interested. The US today provides the finest heavy weaponry and aid only to advance violent Islam, such as it's done with ISIS, Libya, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mali:

9/24/14, "U.S. and Arab aircraft attack oil refineries seized by Islamic State in Syria," Washington Post, by Rebecca Collard and Craig Whitlock

"Moustafa Oniedi, a Kurdish activist in Marj Ismael, about two miles from Kobane, said that there were strikes south of Kobane but that they did not hit active fronts with Islamic State militants."...



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