Not really sure it takes Sherlock Holmes.
They were bought by one of the countries that would like ISIS to triumph.
Saudi Arabia ?
The US Treasury's terrorism financing department has launched an enquiry into the fleet of Toyota trucks which feature prominently in ISIS propaganda videos. Counter-terrorism investigators are collaborating with the Japanese automotive manufacturer to figure out how Toyota's Hilux trucks and Land Cruisers have been obtained …
This post has been deleted by its author
but but Turkey is the big country who
Turkey, due to its various Eu related aspirations imports (and assembles) Eu spec vehicles.
The Toyotas on the ISIS videos are not the Eu spec. The Eu spec has the extra diesel turbo intercooler input on top of the bonnet.
What you see has not gone through the normal import channels in Turkey. It has gone through somewhere else. The same goes for the "truck" version of the Landcruiser. You cannot buy that normally in Eu (and Turkey) at all. Even if you manage to get your mitts on one it will be diesel with the intercooler input, not with a smooth bonnet.
It is the middle-Eastern spec so it was bought for them by Saudi, Qatar or some other usual suspect. All we need is one captured and to read the VIN. Then it will become clear who supplies them (with evidence).
...or alternatively, some of the towns and cities in the area now under ISIS control might just have had the odd vehicle dealership or two not to mention that the locals may have been "persuaded to donate" their privately owned vehicles.
quote: The US military has also supplied brand new Toyota vehicles as part of the country's assistance to the Syrian rebel opposition as it fights to oust Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.
The treasury department could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, either for details on its interaction with Toyota, or on the question of whether some of [Dae'sh/ISIS/etc] Isil's vehicles may have come from US military efforts.
at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11917994/US-government-asks-Toyota-Why-does-Isil-have-so-many-of-the-companys-vehicles.html
Which means that regardless how much I dislike our current villain of the day he has a point. Bomb 'em all. There is f*** all difference they are all joined at the him and transferring equipment, money and fighters between themselves.
FSA opposition? Yeah, more like ISIS purchasing.
This kind of bullshit propaganda really has no place on the reg.
Since it is here, I will add:
Where did they get their huge supply of armoured Hummers?
Where did they obtain their supplies of US tanks, artillery, and anti-tank weapons?
Most telling of all ...
Why, in so many photos, do so many of them sport standard-issue US Army desert-combat boots? Usually, it is most.
Only exception is photos of their trainees, who do tend to wear sports shoes.
Sure, some of it is from Iraqi deserters, but that does *not* explain the appearance of US-made anti-tank weapons and the near-ubiquity of US-supplied boots.
Also does not explain the frequency of bits and pieces of US desert camouflage, US army trousers, in particular, appear to be very much in fashion, although not on quite the same scale as the US army standard-issue boots.
"Where did they obtain their supplies of US tanks, artillery, and anti-tank weapons?"
I had assumed that this was looted kit they'd acquired from overrun Iraqi bases - remember the Merkins withdrew from Iraq not long ago, and left the fledgling Iraqi military well supplied with a bunch of hardware to help them look after themselves ... unfortunately the soldiers of the fledgling Iraqi military were dead scared of the ravaging ISIS hordes and ran away from a number of encounters leaving their kit behind(*).
ISIS got their hands on quite a number of Iraqi weapons dumps as they overran positions and bases early on in their offensive. The Merkins sat on their hands and watched it happen, having abandoned their newly "liberated" friends to their fate.
(* Recognising of course that a number did stand and fought bravely, some of whom unfortunately were captured, and were later tortured and beheaded)
A quick check on the options list suggests that machine guns are non-manufacturer-approved accessories that probably invalidate the warranty.
I think the warranty on its paintwork is also void when we're talking about getting hit by lead slugs rather than water and dust. That must play havoc with insurance premiums :)
When you go to poor countries, you start realising that car manufacturers must have very flexible price lists. When I was in Cambodia 10 years ago, I did wonder how taxi drivers, in a near bankrupt country , managed to buy Toyota Camrys. SImilarly how do taxi drivers in poor African countries buy Mercedes? Aside from those single cyclider Chinese three wheelers, are there any cheap cars in poor countries?
In Japan there are very expensive MOT type tests for vehicles more than a handful of years old which 'encourages' people to buy a new vehicle more often than would probably otherwise be the case. We all know the reliability and longevity of today's Japanese cars and there is a HUGE export market to the rest of the world in these second hand cars which are usually fairly low mileage meaning that Toyotas are perhaps the most popular car in a lot of African countries. I know a guy who buys Toyotas from Japan and has them shipped direct to Pakistan for sale there, because they're much sought after.
I think it's possibly more a case of
"would be such a shame if you were still in it with your feet nailed to the floor when someone blows it up, instead of outside handing over the keys"
I don't think their tactics include "give us what we want and we'll leave you alone", but they might include "give us what we want and maybe we won't be quite as nasty to you".
This post has been deleted by its author
Big problem is that middle east and gulf have lots of oil, so they have lots of cash to splash on weapons. Inevitably these trickle down into conflict zones (not to mention the weaponry that US deliberately introduced to the region). If NATO stops selling them weapons, they will buy from Russia and China. Even if no legitimate supplier would sell them any weapons, there are enough dodgy middlemen to supply them. they got the money, they will get weapons. And trucks etc.
The only way to solve the bloody middle east massacres is a massive switch to nuclear power and renewables (and hopefully eventually fission), then they won't have any money to buy weapons*. Then they can carry on fighting with sticks and stones while the rest of the world can ignore them.
*As far as I know there is no major weapons production in middle east / gulf, except maybe Iran?
Big problem is that middle east and gulf have lots of oil, so they have lots of cash to splash on weapons.
There's certainly no shortage of dodgy money, but the reality on the ground is that weaponry is cheap. IS may have captured a lot of US kit (in addiiton to stuff the Yanks supplied to groups that then joined IS), but the bulk of their strength is beaten up pickups, cheap-as-chips AK47s, and suicide bombers.
If the market for oil vanished overnight, and the sovereign wealth funds of oil exporters mysteriously shrivelled, the middle east would still be an uncivilised, smelly, seething, fighting mass.