Disciplined Iraq jihadists deft with funds and social media as they advance

BAGHDAD: When al-Qaida-style insurgents overran the northern city of Mosul, among the war booty they seized were what they claimed were five US-made helicopters. Noting that they were still nearly new, the group said in a posting on its Twitter feed, "We'll expect the Americans to honour the warranty and service them for us." "Not only are they effective jihadists but they have a sense of humour," said Toby Dodge, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, who related that anecdote. Behind the image of savagery the extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant present to the world, as casual executioners who kill helpless prisoners and behead even rival jihadis, lies a disciplined organization that employs social media and sophisticated financial strategies in the funding and governance of the areas it has conquered. The insurgents seized as much as $400 million from the central bank in Mosul, said Atheel Nujaifi, governor of Nineveh province, as well as reportedly emptying the vaults in all the other banks in a city of more than 1 million residents. Other officials cite lower figures when discussing the central bank theft. In a bloody see-saw battle for control of Iraq's biggest oil refinery at Baiji, halfway between Baghdad and Mosul, the jihadists worked with the families of employees there to broker a ceasefire — so the workers could be safely evacuated.  NYT News Service