Back when the U.S. was knee-deep in the quagmire of the Iraq war, whenever there was a photo of Al Qaida in Iraq (later ISIL or ISIS), the terrorists were always riding around in Toyota Trucks. I remember thinking, does Toyota advertise in the Middle East? “Toyota, the official truck for terrorists.” Did ISIS get a fleet discount for purchasing trucks from Toyota?
The U.S. Treasury had the same question and actually looked into it. Where did ISIS get all those Toyotas? US Treasury investigates.
There is no doubt that Islamic State (IS) is an organized, wealthy operation … ISIS has killed vast numbers of people and maintained control of an Iraq-Syria caliphate for over a year (2015). However, the terrorists have claimed more than land: they’ve adopted Toyota, the Japanese car brand, as their vehicle of choice.
Widespread videos posted online through IS-linked websites and social media accounts show caravans of Toyotas, many of which have been outfitted with artillery, and many of which appear to be brand new.
Both Toyota Hilux pickups and Toyota Land Cruisers “have become fixtures in videos of the ISIS campaign in Iraq, Syria and Libya, with their truck beds loaded with heavy weapons and cabs jammed with terrorists,” says ABC News.
“Regrettably, the Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux have effectively become almost part of the ISIS brand,” Mark Wallace, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations and CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, a nonprofit working to expose the financial support networks of terror groups.
The Terror Financing Unit of the US Treasury Department, in conjunction with Toyota, has launched an investigation into how the terrorist group acquired the vehicles.
The importance of the investigation rests on the vital role vehicles play in mobilizing and assisting terrorist groups. Undermining the IS vehicle supply chain could have a significant effect, as evidenced by the edge that these vehicles have given previous terrorist groups, such as the Taliban.
In the 1990s, the Hilux truck served a pivotal role for the Taliban insurgency, giving the group a way to quickly mobilize troops. BBC correspondent David Loyn went so far as to rank the Hilux among the “great game-changers of modern warfare,” according to Public Radio International.
“The Toyota Hilux is everywhere,” Andrew Exum, former Army Ranger and fellow of the Center for a New American Security, told Newsweek. “It’s the vehicular equivalent of the AK-47. It’s ubiquitous to insurgent warfare.”
Despite its popularity among rebel groups, Toyota has a “strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities,” as well as procedures in place “to protect supply chain integrity,” Ed Lewis, Toyota’s Washington-based director of public policy and communications, told ABC News.
This is the “don’t believe your lying eyes” response from Toyota, as it cashed the checks from ISIS.
(There is much more to this report if you are interested).
Now in 2021, Toyota is again supporting terrorists – MAGA/QAnon domestic terrorists right here in the good ol’ US of A.
Dana Milbank at the Washington Post riffs off this history in Toyota vies to become Official Car of Insurrectionists. Will Oath Keepers swear their brand loyalty?
Approaching Tuesday’s six-month anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the liberal watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tallied contributions corporate PACs have made to the 147 insurrectionists in Congress — those who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, even after the Trump mob’s deadly attack on the Capitol.
Most corporations stuck to their initial pledges and didn’t give money, at least directly, to those who stood for overthrowing democracy. But one company has bankrolled the insurrectionists at a level far higher than the others: Toyota. The carmaker gave $55,000 to 37 of the insurrectionist lawmakers, CREW found — more than quadruple the runner-up, CIGNA (nine), and quintuple Koch Industries (seven).
A Toyota spokesman told me the company “supports candidates based on their position on issues that are important to the auto industry and the company.” Apparently, constitutional democracy isn’t one of those issues. This leaves me with one question: Would anybody like to buy my 2017 Toyota Sienna? I suspect I’m not the only one who won’t be buying a(nother) Toyota. Toyota likes to say its cars are “made in America” — while its actions are unmaking America.
If Toyota’s wishes to solidify its standing as the Official Car of Insurrectionists, I suggest a more comprehensive approach. Toyota should roll out a new line of vehicles, renamed and redesigned to reflect target customers. Those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 should get special Three Percenter financing.
The 2022 Toyota Previous (formerly Prius). Don’t recognize Joe Biden as the legitimate president? Then transport yourself back to a time when America LED THE WORLD in covid-19 deaths and HAD THE GREATEST job losses since Herbert Hoover. Toyota’s hybrid technology will excite those who want it all: more MPGs (miles per gallon) and more MTGs (Marjorie Taylor Greenes).
The 2022 Toyota Paranoia (formerly Sequoia). Vaccines turning you magnetic? Government confiscating your guns? Mask mandates feeling like the Holocaust? Car and Driver says the Paranoia has best-in-class handling of conspiracy theories and an Adaptive Variable Suspension that allows you to roll over the most stubborn facts in quiet comfort.
The 2022 Toyota Rotunda (formerly Tundra). The Capitol Police will scatter when you drive this bad boy over the barriers and up the West Lawn, smashing right into the Capitol Dome. Its flatbed can carry 1,730 pounds of tear gas, flagpoles, gas masks, fire extinguishers and nooses to use against uncooperative police and lawmakers.
The 2022 Toyota GunRunner (formerly 4Runner). Busted for bringing 11 molotov cocktails, a rifle, shotgun, three pistols, a crossbow, several machetes, a stun gun and smoke devices to the Capitol? Then test-drive the all-new GunRunner. Its many compartments hold all your ammunition — and your pipe bombs, too!
The 2022 Toyota RAV4chan (formerly RAV4). Blocked on Twitter? Banned from Facebook? The RAV4chan gives everybody a way to Gab. Optional 8chan transmission will Telegram your views to even more like-minded drivers.
The 2022 Toyota Homelander (formerly Highlander). White nationalists will love this crossover, which goes from zero to insurrection in just five seconds and is equipped with the Supreme Court’s latest voter suppression technology, giving you an effortless ride to victory.
The 2022 Toyota Supremacist (formerly Supra). Eight standard air bags in this sports car will protect your Anglo-Saxon traditions. Oath Keepers swear by this car, and 9 in 10 Proud Boys boast that the Supremacist puts America First. Imported from China. Available only in White.
My space is limited, but Toyota’s offerings are not. The 2022 Toyota One-Six (formerly the Eight-Six) NTV trimline turns even the most violent attack on democracy into a Normal Tourist Visit. The 2022 Toyota Bad Loser (formerly Land Cruiser) has standard leather seats for eight insurrectionists and 18-inch forged-aluminum alloy wheels to run over even the most determined racial-justice demonstrators. The Toyota Shamry (formerly Camry) ends election fraud with a state-of-the-art theft deterrent system guaranteed to Stop the Steal.
Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand, will add a new line to its IS, ES and LS sedans to appeal to those who get their news from Fox News: The Lexus BS. Toyota will also revive the discontinued Scion iQ subcompact, to be marketed as the Toyota Q, with truly unbelievable performance. To Make America Great Again, Toyota will import its Toyota Succeed van from the Japanese market, rebranded as the Toyota Secede.
Toyota, hoping to appeal to those insurrectionists who have beaten or sprayed chemicals on police, is experimenting with a redesigned Tacoma (the Toyota Hematoma) and a new Yaris (the Toyota Teargas). Those awaiting trial for their Jan. 6 activities will find refuge in the new Mirai (the Toyota Alibi). And the 37 members of the Insurrectionist Caucus who have received campaign cash from Toyota will have exclusive use of a tricked-out line of the Corolla: the Toyota Payola.
Toyota’s Cyber Ninjas are currently auditing road-test results.
In all seriousness, my family has had a Toyota Camry for years. I am now considering trading it in for a good used American car, maybe a Buick. Take that, Toyota.
The Wrap reports, Toyota Faces Boycott Calls Over Donations to Republicans Who Voted Against Certifying Election:
Toyota is facing boycott calls — some from high-profile figures — after a weekend report revealed the company donated to Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results.
Over the weekend, Axios published its findings on corporate PACs that donated to the Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in the aftermath of the deadly Capitol riot. The January 6 riot was an attempt by supporters of then-president Donald Trump to prevent the election results from being certified. Five people died.
Although Axios found that almost three dozen corporate PACs donated to those Republicans, the report noted that Toyota donated the most “by a substantial margin.” In all, Toyota dispersed $55,000 among 37 of those Republicans.
A spokesperson for the Japanese carmaker told Axios, “We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification.”
They added, “Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”
That wasn’t enough to stop the boycott calls, which poured in Monday morning as Toyota climbed Twitter’s trending list.
Screenwriter Michael Green (“Death on the Nile,” “Logan,” “Bladerunner 2049”) posted, “Toyota says they don’t believe it matters where money flows. In which case they won’t mind our money flowed out of their pocket this morning.”
Handmaid’s tale creator and executive producer Bruce Miller revealed he was actually looking for a new car but crossed Toyota off his list tweeting, “Toyota I guess you really don’t want my business.”
Wow. And here’s me, this morning, actually shopping for a new car. @Toyota I guess you really don’t want my business. https://t.co/ekrI9tR4Qo
— Bruce Miller (@BrooseMiller) June 28, 2021
Former NewsHour correspondent John Merrow also put his money where his mouth is. “We were about to buy a new Highlander when the company resumed bankrolling the treasonous insurrection-supporting politicians,” he posted. “We cancelled the order (and bought a Volvo instead).”
Boycott Toyota. We are! We were about to buy a new Highlander when the company resumed bankrolling the treasonous insurrection-supporting politicians. We cancelled the order (and bought a Volvo instead). https://t.co/ufJks6ec7Z
— John Merrow (@John_Merrow) June 28, 2021
Actor Kirk Acevedo vowed, “I drive a @Toyota and I’m about to burn that bi— to the ground unless Toyota makes a formal apology and stops donating to traitors.”
Actor/activist George Takei simply wrote, “Do better, Toyota.”
Jennifer Taub, a law professor with 133,000 followers on the platform, tweeted, “Hey @Toyota! My family owns two Priuses (or Prii). One is ten years old and ready for a replacement. We won’t purchase another Toyota again. Have a nice day.”
“So much for ever buying anything from @Toyota ever again,” tweeted Mother Jones editor in chief Clara Jeffery.
A representative for Toyota did not immediately return a request for comment on the calls for a boycott.
UPDATE: The Lincoln Project on Thursday announced its new strategy to combat “the Sedition Caucus and its enablers,” taking aim at corporations that donate to the campaigns of lawmakers who were against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election and who have sought to minimize the events of Jan. 6. Lincoln Project shifting focus to corporations that have donated to ‘Sedition Caucus’:
In a press release, the anti-Trump GOP political action committee said it would be releasing a round of ads targeting companies that have gone back on their promises of ceasing donations to lawmakers who voted against certifying President Biden’s electoral victory and “enabled, empowered, and emboldened former president Trump and the insurrectionists.”
“The Lincoln Project will inform employees, shareholders and customers of these companies’ egregious anti-American behavior,” the organization said.
The group specifically called out Toyota for having donated $55,000 to 37 lawmakers who voted against certifying the election results in January. It says the automaker has donated more than any other company to these lawmakers.
Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, said that the United States’s “free market, democratic system has allowed companies like Toyota to enjoy enormous growth, low taxes and little oversight.”
“The Lincoln Project will not sit by and watch as companies like Toyota — companies that have benefited from America’s economic strength and freedom — give money to politicians who are working to overthrow that same system,” Galen said. “This is no longer a fight between two political parties or entrenched interests. It is no less than a fight to preserve American democracy.”
BREAKING: The New York Times reports, Toyota says it will stop donating to Republicans who contested the election results.
Toyota said on Thursday that it would stop donating to Republicans who disputed the 2020 presidential vote after being the focus of an ad campaign by the Lincoln Project, a group that was founded to antagonize President Donald J. Trump with viral video criticisms.
All 147 seditious Republicans, and affiliated GQP leadership PACs for the House and Senate? We’ll be monitoring you.
The automaker said in a statement that its support of the politicians had “troubled some stakeholders.”
“At this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election,” the company said. It added that it was “committed to supporting and promoting actions that further our democracy” through its PAC and “has longstanding relationships with members of Congress across the political spectrum.”
* * *
The Lincoln Project said the ad would no longer run after Thursday. It was set to appear online in the same markets as Toyota’s top 20 dealerships and locally on Fox Business and CNBC in New York and in Plano, Texas, where Toyota’s American operations are based. The Lincoln Project said Comcast had refused to air the commercial in Washington; Comcast did not immediately provide a comment.
“Toyota made the right choice today,” the Lincoln Project said in a statement. “They put democracy ahead of transactional politics. We hope that the rest of corporate America will follow their lead — we’ll be there to make sure of it.”
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Corporations only care about money.
There’s even a poster for it! But Technicals didn’t arise with ISIS, I remember them being discussed, and named as “technicals” way back in the days of the Somali civil war (“Blackhawk Down” days) and earlier .
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EwrFFC7WgAIN6ll.jpg
I drive a 2010 Tacoma Access Cab, 4 cylinder five speed that I bought new and has been a wonderful ride. Getting rid of it now would be the equivalent of those clowns who burn their expensive Nikes due to Nike’s association with Colin Kaepernick. That said, when (hopefully years from now) this Tacoma goes to that great junkyard in the sky I’ll be in the market for an electric vehicle. Needless to say, unless Toyota sees the light that vehicle will NOT be a Toyota.