ISIS: Brought to you by ToyotaBy Clay Hamric
Press Crew October 19, 2015 When carmaker Toyota says “Let’s go Places,” do they mean war-torn Syria? Possibly, according to recent news reports.
The U.S. government is questioning Toyota as to why the Islamic State terrorist group owns a large amount of Toyota trucks. This is true, as in most footage the group is seen driving plain white trucks with the name “Toyota” written in black letters. Many have also cited the ISIS propaganda videos, which some even compare to actual Toyota advertisements. Toyota as well is confused as to why ISIS owns their vehicles, saying they support an investigation into the matter. The Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Counter Extremism Project Mark Wallace has said “I don’t think Toyota’s trying to intentionally profit, but they are on notice and they should do more.” Toyota claims it does not know how their vehicles could end up in the hands of ISIS. They went on to say they do not support the sale of their vehicles to militaristic forces and have no way of tracking stolen or resold vehicles. There are multiple theories as to how ISIS has so many Toyota trucks. One cause may be the larger amount of Toyotas being sold in the Middle East. In 2014, 824,000 Toyotas were sold in the region, up 11 percent from the previous year. This still, though, fails to explain the almost advertisement-like way in which ISIS portrays their vehicles. Another possible cause could be that these are vehicles left over from U.S. ground involvement in the Syrian area. As troops left after the war in Afghanistan, as well as other missions, they did leave behind equipment such as vehicles and firearms. At the least, an investigation into the matter would herald interesting results. Whether Toyota is responsible of any wrongdoing or not, it’s not secret that the company has a relation to ISIS, either direct or indirect. |
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