Well, see, after he stopped working for Isuzu ...
Posted on 10/07/2015 3:01:11 PM PDT by markomalley
Officials in the Terror Financing unit of the U.S. Treasury Department are probing how the Islamic State has obtained a large number of Toyota vehicles, asking the automaker to help determine how the terror group came to possess the pick-up trucks and SUVs.
Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks and Land Cruisers have become prevalent in propaganda videos published by the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS) that show the terror group moving through Syria and Iraq and into Libya.
ABC News reported that Toyota claims that it does not know how IS obtained the vehicles but is “supporting” the probe, which is part of a larger initiative to prevent IS from getting ahold of Western-manufactured goods.
“We briefed Treasury on Toyota’s supply chains in the Middle East and the procedures that Toyota has in place to protect supply chain integrity,” Toyota executive Ed Lewis explained.
Lewis said that Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” but that the manufacturer cannot track trucks that have been stolen by IS or purchased by the group through middlemen.
“It is impossible for Toyota to completely control indirect or illegal channels through which our vehicles could be misappropriated,” Lewis said.
According to Lukman Faily, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States, the Iraqi government suspects that the Islamic State has obtained “hundreds” of “brand new” Toyotas in the past few years in addition to the older vehicles that it has acquired.
However, Toyota alleged that many vehicles possessed by IS are not newer models.
According to data from the automaker, sales of Hilux and Land Cruisers in Iraq tripled from 6,000 in 2011 to 18,000 in 2013 and then dropped slightly to 13,000 in 2014. Toyota said it does not know if a particular dealership is selling cars to IS but that it would immediately terminate the distribution agreement if such a dealership were found out.
Toyota has been the #1 vehicle for sleezebags in 3rd world hell holes for decades. You can beat the hell out of them with little to no maintenance and they just keep going. Not really Toyota’s fault they make the perfect vehicle for people too busy killing to bother with oil changes.
Don’t ask Toyota, ask Obama.
Well, see, after he stopped working for Isuzu ...
Hmmmmm.....
Well, we do know how they got 2,300 Humvees.
Nailed it!
Evidently they need pickup trick control.
Maybe Toyotas are easier to hotwire.
As nice as they all were (the vehicles), we once shot up a convoy leaving no one alive which I still find disturbing. But if that "highway of death" had been repeated, and too bad it wasn't, I would figure they had it coming.
I saw this Toyota truck ad on cable last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQzZJVfZydE
Charging through the desert is one thing, but the explosions are a bit much. All the commercial needs is a jihadi overdub.
ISIS acquired the Toyota vehicles the same way they acquired the Humvees and MPAC vehicles - they took over all the ones that had been abandoned or left behind when frightened people were beating a hasty retreat. Choosing from among these abandoned vehicles, probably great numbers were rejected in favor of the Toyota Hilux pickups.
Sort of a testimonial, I suppose.
We know how they obtained millions of dollars worth of American military equipment.
They released photos of the ISIS Toyota convoy monthsgago and now they are getting around to asking. Either we have a government that is totally incompetent, or since they waited for the responsible peole to cover their tracks, totally corrupt.
I suspect the answer is “yes.”
I agree.
I can’t help but wonder if this turns into a “ban Toyota imports to fight terrorism” movement, supported by the UAW.
Quantity discount from the dealer? End of year clearance? Zero financing for 60 months? All of the above?
Obama sent them a bunch?
The article seems to indicate most of them are the Hilux model, which means the didn't come from here. Not that it would make a bit of difference to the UAW.
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