Islamic State Threatens to Behead Statue of Liberty, Extend Its Territory to New York City
IS Twitter Accounts Share Image of Headless Lady Liberty Holding Terror Group's Black Flag
The Islamic State is threatening to behead America's Statue of Liberty and even published a picture depicting a headless Lady Liberty holding their black flag of terror on Twitter.
Featuring the New York City skyline burning in the background, written beneath the Islamic State picture are the words "soon the state of the Islamic caliphate." The message also included a slogan in English, with some versions saying, "coming soon."
The image began circulating shortly after reports that Hafez Saeed, the top Islamic State commander in Afghanistan, had been killed in a U.S. drone strike earlier this month.
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The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh, is known for launching terror campaigns and threats designed to "strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah," (Quran 8:60).
Last year, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned that the militant Islamic State group could launch a direct attack on U.S. soil and urged President Barack Obama to do more to counter the group.
"Mr. President, be honest with the threat we face," Graham said in a Fox News interview. "They are coming."
The Republican senator, who is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, identified the militants as a "direct threat to our homeland."
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona has also warned that the militants are "getting stronger all the time" and growing in numbers.
"They have attracted 1,000 young men from around the world who are now fighting on their side," McCain explained. "Their end goal, as they've stated openly time after time, is the destruction of United States of America."
Last September, Obama blamed the U.S. intelligence agencies for underestimating the threat posed to the West by IS militants.
In 2009, a similar threat was made by a group of vandals who stole a Statue of Liberty replica from a Brooklyn coffee shop and posted a web video showing them cutting off the statue's blindfolded head.
It opened with a shot of a waving U.S. flag, followed by the words, "We don't want your freedom," and ended with the slogan "Death to America." The YouTube video was subsequently investigated by the FBI.
The Islamic State finances its own terror campaigns and is considered to be the richest armed organization in the world.
Recently, the Islamic State received $6.9 billion in money transfers via Iraqi banks, according to the Iraqi Parliament's Finance Committee.
Companies were able to transfer the funds from the main banks in Iraq to banks in the regions controlled by IS, despite strict security measures the Iraqi government said it has taken to cripple the terror organization.
The group also makes money through the sale of oil as well as through taxes, protection money, contributions, tithes, and "charity" from merchants in regions under its control. Since their inception, IS has seized all the funds from more than 60 governmental and civilian banks in Iraq and Syria.
Experts have said oil wells under control of the terror organization export $100 million worth of oil monthly.
The Christian Post first reported last October that the IHS, a leading source in global information and analytics, found that IS was making twice as much off of their oil production per day than the $1 million per day figure U.S. lawmakers were previously told when the Deputy Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Nicholas Rasmussen testified before Congress in September.
The IHS report stated that IS generates the income needed to continue funding its deadly jihadist movement through the production of over 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which is sold to black market traders. The report also added that IS is only producing "a fraction" of the total oil capacity of the oil regions it controls.
"Oil fuels ISIL's war machine, notably including the military vehicles vital to its movements and fighting capabilities," the report said. "Oil directly finances ISIL's myriad activities and encourages the activities of middlemen who sell, transport and export the oil and thus have a vested interest in ISIL."
