Posted on 02/03/2016 5:32:47 AM PST by thackney
The Islamic State threatens to seize Libyan oil refineries -- and gain a major new revenue source -- as the terror group expands its presence in the war-torn country.
Islamic State fighters have pushed toward critical port facilities near their Libyan stronghold of Sirte, according to a senior State Department official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the issue and asked not to be named.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that the United States and its allies have made progress against the Islamic State in parts of Iraq and Syria but are concerned the terrorist group has spread in Libya.
"That country has resources," Kerry said. "The last thing in the world you want is a false caliphate with access to billions of dollars of oil revenue."
Kerry spoke in Rome, where a coalition of 23 nations met to review their strategy to defeat the Islamic State.
The militants are attempting to expand into Ras Lanuf and Brega, large refinery and export facilities east of Sirte, the State Department official said. Ras Lanuf came under attack by terrorists last month in fighting that touched off a large fire.
The ports are no longer used to export oil, but the refineries there can process domestic supplies and store oil.
The Islamic State may be attempting to control the ports to exert influence over Libya's weak government and force it to make concessions, the official said.
Libya, once a major oil-producing country, no longer pumps oil from its fields inside the country but continues to pull oil from offshore rigs.
In Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee called Tuesday for increased intelligence and military operations against ISIS leaders in Libya, which has become the largest of the terror group's strongholds outside Iraq and Syria.
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, one of eight lawmakers briefed on the most sensitive intelligence operations, called on the Obama administration to "be proactive in Libya now to keep ISIS from getting a bigger foothold," so it could avoid "the long term multi-year nightmare that we've gone through in Iraq and Syria once they gain that foothold."
So many problems easily solved by one B-52 sortie.
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