Kurds request US military weapons to fight ‘Islamic State’

Peshmerga Troops on a T-55 Tank (Boris Niehaus)

The situation in Iraq remains tense and the Kurds have requested US arms to better fight ISIS, now calling itself the Islamic State:

August 1, 2014

The semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq is pressing the Obama administration for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back Islamist militants threatening their region, Kurdish and U.S. officials said.

A Kurdish official said the request was discussed during a Kurdish delegation’s visit to Washington in early July, and U.S. officials said Washington was considering ways to bolster the Kurdish defenses.

The Kurds said U.S. help is critical to enable the Peshmerga, the Kurds’ paramilitary force, to repel fighters from the Islamic State, an al-Qaida spinoff that seized a wide swath of Iraqi territory in a stunning advance in the last few months.

Military supplies

The requested military supplies include tanks, sniper equipment, armored personnel carriers, artillery and ammunition, and also body armor, helmets, fuel trucks and ambulances.

Kurdish officials said the Peshmerga need the weapons to guard the borders of the rugged mountainous region and to protect hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees sheltering there after fleeing the Islamist rebels’ onslaught.

U.S. officials said they are considering ways to help the Kurds defend themselves, but direct provision of arms to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in the way Washington arms Iraq’s central government in Baghdad, appears highly unlikely.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite Arab, has clashed repeatedly with Kurdish leaders over budgets, land and oil. U.S. weapons supplies could set a potentially troublesome precedent for circumventing an allied government to provide U.S. arms to a regional force.

“The provision of security assistance via Foreign Military Sales and Foreign Military Financing must be coordinated with central government authorities, in Iraq and elsewhere,” a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

“We provided some direct assistance in the past to Kurdish security forces in coordination with the central government,” the official said. “Given the threat that Iraq faces by (the Islamic State), the United States will continue to engage with Baghdad and Arbil (the Kurdish region’s capital) to enhance cooperation on the security front and other issues.”

Delicate US position

The U.S. caution reflects Washington’s delicate position as it seeks to help Iraq stave off collapse to a rag-tag, extremist army less than three years after the U.S. war there concluded.

In the weeks since the Islamist rebel assault exposed the Iraqi army’s weakness and the effects of years of sectarian squabbles, U.S. officials have scrambled to bring Shi’ites, Sunnis and Kurds together to confront militants.

At the same time, the long-running Iraqi Kurdish ambition for independence has been strengthened by the Peshmerga’s stronger showing against militants, by Kurdish territorial gains, and by the fact that Maliki has fallen out of favor in Washington.

The Peshmerga, whose name means ‘those who face death,’ gained a reputation for toughness during years of fighting former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and, in recent years, occasional standoffs with soldiers loyal to Maliki.

Held Islamists at bay

While Iraq soldiers deserted their posts en masse in northern Iraq before the Islamic State offensive last month, the Peshmerga kept Islamists at bay while also seizing the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which was previously under Iraqi army control.

That new dynamic shaped U.S.-Kurdish talks in early July, when a delegation including President Masoud Barzani’s chief of staff and his foreign relations chief visited Washington.

While Iraq’s Kurds have long been a reliable U.S. ally, especially since U.S. air power helped them secure self-governance after the 1991 Gulf War, Washington has never thrown its support behind the notion of an independent state. Instead, the United States has urged Kurds to share power with Shi’ite and Sunni Arabs within a federal Iraq.

During the Kurdish officials’ visit to Washington, Barzani asked the region’s parliament to make preparations for a referendum on independence.

The Obama administration, which sent hundreds of soldiers to Iraq last month to protect diplomats and to analyze Iraq’s military capabilities, has said it is considering what military actions it might take against the Islamic State…

Since 2003, the United States has spent over $25 billion to train and outfit Iraq’s national army. Very little U.S. training and equipment, most of which has been non-lethal assistance, went to the Peshmerga.

Acquired military gear

Over the years the Peshmerga have acquired Russian-made weaponry, including some tanks, and a few rescue helicopters. They also captured some weapons last month when they commandeered facilities abandoned by Iraqi soldiers in Kirkuk.

But Kurdish officials said much of what they have is outdated and will be no match for the sophisticated weaponry captured by Islamic State fighters when they swept through northern Iraq. http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-kurds-battling-islamic-state-press-us-for-weapons/1969380.html

While the Kurds have long been a reliable U.S. ally as the above states, the USA has tended to ignore or minimize most Kurdish requests. The USA has decided how it wants Iraq to look and as recently as last month opposed the plans of the Kurds of Iraq to be independent of the Shi-ite Maliki government in Baghdad (see Kurds want to vote on independence, USA opposed). The USA has partially opposed Kurdish plans in Iraq, because the USA is an ally of Turkey, and the Turks are opposed to any Kurdish state as there are a number of Kurds in Turkey who also wish to be independent of Turkey.

Perhaps it should be brought up that the Shi-ite Maliki government in Baghdad has gone to Iran and Syria for assistance to fight the Islamic State (see Fierce fighting in Tikrit; Russia, Iran, and Syria try to help Iraq while the USA tries political advice and drones) as it has not always gotten along well with the USA, despite the receipt of massive USA aid. The USA itself is spending hundreds of millions to try to topple the government of Syria that the Shi-ite Maliki government is working with. The USA also has its issues with Iran.

That being said, there will be other changes coming to Iraq. Eventually, at least parts of its will support the coming King of the South of biblical prophecy (Daniel 11:40-43; Ezekiel 30:2-8).

The Kurds, which may also provide some support to that king, have long wanted independence and are getting more and more disappointed that the USA does not support them in their objective here. If the USA turns them away, they may possibly ask Russia.

The Kurds were abused under Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi governments. Notice, for example, the following:

The Halabja chemical attack (Kurdish: Kîmyabarana Helebce کیمیابارانی ھەڵەبجە), also known as the Halabja Massacre or Bloody Friday, was a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War in the Kurdish city of Halabja in Southern Kurdistan. The attack was part of the Al-Anfal campaign in northern Iraq, as well as part of the Iraqi attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. It took place 48 hours after the fall of the town to Iranian army and Kurdish guerrillas. The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians.Thousands more died of complications, diseases, and birth defects in the years after the attack.The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq, was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.

The Halabja attack has been recognized as a separate event from the Anfal Genocide that was also conducted against the Kurdish people by the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010, a decision welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The attack was also condemned as a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Canada (Halabja chemical attack. Wikipedia, viewed 08/01/14)

Baghdad based leaders have tried to wipe the Kurds out, cut off supplies to that region, and have fought against the Kurds. It is little wonder that they do not wish to be part of a Baghdad Iraqi government. In my opinion, the Kurds much more abused than the American colonies were when they declared their independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.

Given more time and success, the Islamic State will cause terrorism in other parts of the world, including USA-related targets.

While I am not taking a position on whether the USA should supply the Kurds or anyone else with military arms, I will state that the Bible warns that destruction is coming to “an hypocritical nation” which it will end up being destroyed (Isaiah 10:5-11, KJV). While there are serious problems and conflicts in Iraq, those who think that the USA will not reap what it is sowing (cf. Galatians 6:7-8), are in error (Daniel 11:39).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
The Prophesied ‘Islamic’ Confederation Where is an Islamic caliphate prophesied? Will one happen? Should you be concerned about it? A related video is Will an Arabic Calphiphate Destroy the West?
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians?
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
Egypt in Prophecy Does Egypt have a special role in end time prophecy? Will Egypt rise up and then be defeated. What does God teach will happen to those in Egypt? Here is a link to a YouTube video titled Egypt and End Time Prophecy.
Iraq, the King of the South, Armageddon, and Prophecy What will happen to Iraq? Is it the prophesied Mystery Babylon? What is Armageddon and how does that have to do with Iraq? Here is a related video Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy.
Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here is a related video Iran In Prophecy.
What Should You Know About Turkey in Prophecy Do you know the Turkish people descended from? Did the Ottoman Empire possibly fulfill a promise in Genesis? Will Turkey support the European King of the North or Arabic King of the South? Will it betray one of them? Will Turkey be involved in the encouraging the destruction of Israel? Is Turkey going to become Catholic? Is Turkey mentioned in Psalm 83, Daniel 11, and elsewhere in the Bible? This video provides answers.
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? A YouTube video of related interest may be: The Future King of the South is Rising.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.