The Islamic State 'Masterplan' of Administration- Some Analytical Notes
13 December 2015By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
The Guardian today has a huge story based on a 'masterplan' text I leaked to
the paper entitled 'Principles in the Administration of the Islamic State'.
The text- likely written at some point between June and October 2014-
concerns a variety of aspects of administration, including management of oil
resources, composition of military ranks and propaganda. You can read the
whole text, which I translated, here.
The sign-off notably says that admin cadres are to receive instruction in
administration according to the text. The question then arises of how far the
Islamic State is actually following this administrative plan. Here are a few
thoughts of my own:
1. The text calls for breaking down the differences between muhajireen
(foreign fighters) and ansar (local Iraqis and Syrians) by integrating them
together in the military ranks, uniformly accepting a fundamentally Arabic
and Islamic character to their identity of affiliation with the Caliphate
alone. In the pre-Caliphate era, one will have noted the existence of foreign
fighter battalions for what was then ISIS fundamentally based around single
nationalities and ethnicities, such as Katiba al-Battar al-Libi (Libyan while
attracting some Europeans of Maghrebi and north African origin) and the Abu
al-Nur al-Maqdisi Battalion (Gazan). However, since the Caliphate
declaration, these battalions have generally dropped off the radar of social
media, and as colleague Michael Weiss was able to establish in an interview
with an Islamic State defector, the Katiba al-Battar al-Libi was in fact
disbanded for precisely these reasons of discouraging affiliations on
ethncity, which of course may give rise to loyalties beyond those owed to the
Caliph.
2. Distinctions are made as to who must/need not be affiliated with the
Islamic State in the oil and gas industries: while the oil and gas fields are
themselves owned by the Islamic State and anyone who makes a direct
investment in them must have an allegiance to the Caliph, those who wish to
purchase the crude substance from the fields and then refine/transport/deal
in the products, inside or outside the territory of the Caliphate, need not
have this allegiance. Therefore, refiners, truckers and those who sell to
civilians are not necessarily affiliated with the Islamic State, and the
ultimate sale of oil to outside actors such as the territories of the rebels
and the Assad regime, even though they are enemies of the Islamic State, is
officially sanctioned and allowed. All of this has been well established and
corroborated in reporting.
3. The text sanctions co-optation of personnel who worked under prior
governments as a means to run projects under the Islamic State. In other
words, when the Islamic State claims to provide services under its Diwan al-Khidamat,
the personnel running the projects are often the same people who worked in
the services offices of prior systems. This is particularly true of
Iraq-controlled territories of the Islamic State, such as Mosul, where
municipal office employees are working under Diwan al-Khidamat. Internal
documents show an established pattern of compelling such personnel to return
to work under threat of confiscating property. Compare also with the threats
to confiscate property of medical personnel who leave Islamic State territory
and will not work under its Diwan al-Siha.
4. The section on media is particularly interesting with regards to auxiliary
media outlets. In analysis of Islamic State propaganda, one notes the
existence of as shadowy 'Amaq News agency, which ostensibly uses more neutral
language in its reports on Islamic State operations: e.g. "muqatilun"
('fighters') rather than "mujahidun". Further, while 'Amaq News covers
military operations against external enemies and aspects of life under the
Islamic State, it does not cover implementation of hudud punishments like
cutting hands of thieves, or internal security operations featuring execution
of spies. This exactly mirrors the plans outlined here.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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