With the Iraqi military’s own offensive around Mosul almost immediately stalling, US hopes to eventually see the city recovered from ISIS are resting more heavily on the idea that the Kurdish Peshmerga will succeed where Iraq’s military has failed. That’s not coming cheap.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter revealed today that as part of the latest US escalation in Iraq, $415 million in cash has been set aside for certain Kurdish Peshmerga units, to unsure that those groups keep fighting against ISIS.
Though the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) clearly has some interest in seeing ISIS expelled from the area around Mosul, their interests are likely more directly on defending their own territory, including not-insignificant territorial gains they’ve made during the war, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
Instead of leaving the Pesshmerga to its own, already subsidized devices, the Pentagon seems to have decided that overt bribery is in order, to make sure the Peshmerga’s involvement in the fight is centered on offensives where the US wants them.
$415M…meanwhile, the American city of Houston is drowning because the state of Texas and the Army Corps of Engineers were too cheap (Texas) or didn’t have the funding (ACE) because of illogical stuff like paying the Kurds to fight for us. Despite the fact that the US started the whole thing, it’s not our business – we’ve got better things to do with our treasure. Let the Israelis spend some of that $4+B that the American taxpayers send them every year on their war-making, since we’re going to send it to them regardless of how wrong it is.
Since before Gulf War I the US has been paying millions into Kurdish peoples hope for an Independent oil rich Kurdistan.
By the time of Gulf War II almost half of Iraqs old lands were under an autonomous US backed and Israeli/US TRAINED PERSHMERGA MILITARY FORCE.
We helped them steal richest of IRAQ oil blocks and to connect pipelines to Turkey for Israel and gave Israel its first ever foreign military bases in Kurdistan/Iraq along pipelines to Israeli Oil refinery in Haifa.
So whatsa fewhundred millions, a bout 20-30% that will never be seen by kurds but by our military arms makers.
If the people in Texas are ignorant enough to kerp supporting Israel and Kurds while they wallow in own chemical filth and braggado, let em sink or swim in own stupidity.