US officials today confirmed that they have ditched a long-standing policy of sending arms to Iraq only through the central government, and are now directly arming the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The announcement was not exactly a surprise, as regular readers will not that we reported a week ago that US officials were promising both airstrikes and direct armament to the Kurds in their fight against ISIS.
Both of those reports have come to pass, as US airstrikes began Friday. The US announcements on airstrikes and arms have both aimed at trying to restore Kurdish military control over regions ISIS recently seized.
But directly arming the Peshmerga risks alienating the Iraqi government even more, as the Peshmerga has not only fought ISIS but seized several Iraqi cities as well in recent months, and now has a direct line to DC for more weapons as they try to carve out their growing autonomous region in Iraq’s north.
Throwing more arms into Iraq also risks giving more arms to ISIS, as the group has by and large become so well-armed by looting Iraqi military sites full of US-made gear. If they continue to score victories against the Kurds, they may acquire yet more arms this way.
In this moment in time Barzani is the only friend that USG can have in Iraq, because Kurdistan have the oil and ISIS is after that source of income. Beside that USG see Kurdistan as a much more strategical important in Iraq wanting for Turkish Erdogan government to be in charge of Kurdish oil pipelines to Black Sea, which answers the question when Barack Hussein Obama saying about defending the Kurdish territory by bombing ISIS approach toward irbil and other oilfield in northern Iraq.
Obama really don't care about the Kurds that much, he is only protecting Israel's interest where as the Kurds can supply Israel with oil.
So the US is arming Israel's best buddies, the Kurds bypassing the government of Iraq. I hope Russia is paying attention to this.