The former CIA director under President Obama revealed this week that the White House held off on bombing Islamic State-controlled oil fields and tankers because the administration feared that the subsequent oil spills would harm the environment.
Former director Mike Morell’s comment came during an interview Tuesday evening with PBS’ Charlie Rose.
“We didn’t go after oil wells, actually hitting oil wells that ISIS controls, because we didn’t want to do environmental damage, and we didn’t want to destroy that infrastructure,” Morell said.
He added that the Obama administration was also afraid that damaging oil infrastructure would ultimately hurt the Syrian people.
Islamic State-linked terrorists launched several attacks on Paris this month, murdering 130 and injuring hundreds more. Prior to that attack, Morell said, the White House had deep concerns about striking oil fields and tankers.
“[T]here seemed to be a judgment that … look, we don’t want to destroy these oil tankers because that’s infrastructure that’s going to be necessary to support the people when ISIS isn’t there anymore, and it’s going to create environmental damage,” he said.
However, all that changed after the Parisian terror wave, he said, noting that the Obama administration is now actively trying to disrupt Islamic State’s chief source of income.
“So now we’re hitting oil trucks,” Morell said. “And maybe you get to the point where you say, we also have to hit oil wells.”
“So those are the kind of tough decisions you have to make,” he added.
(h/t RCP)
