Even though Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder Abadi spent this week’s Paris summit complaining about the lack of aid deliveries, US officials say that the Pentagon had already begun its massive new shipments of armament to the Iraqi military, and that the first deliveries were made two weeks ago.
The shipments are the first part of the $1.6 billion “Iraqi Train and Equip Fund” that Congress created last year, and shipments delivered so far have included grenade launchers, mortars, and machine guns. Iraqi officials are still complaining about the slow rate of shipment.
Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith says that there will be a number of additional arms shipments in the coming weeks, including some direct provision of arms to the Iraqi Kurdish paramilitary force the Peshmerga.
That’s been a contentious subject with the Iraqi government. Under US law, shipment to forces inside a country have to be approved by that country’s central government, and the Iraqis aren’t keen to see the Peshmerga get too powerful because of Kurdish secessionist ambitions. Pentagon officials, however, have indicated the arms shipping will continue irrespective of Iraqi objections.
The ISIS folks are looking forward to these new weapons as well.
"…“Iraqi Train and Equip Fund” that Congress created last year…"
Well, I don't remember the Congresscritters asking the American taxpayer if they had a problem with Congress donating $1.6B to the Iraqi Army (to be dropped and left behind when they start getting shot at.) I mean, after all, what could the American taxpayer have done with $1.6B? Roads? Bridges? Schools? Affordable housing? Nah…
More US military equipment to Iraq means more military hardware for ISIS to capture, which the US will then try to destroy, largely unsuccessfully.
What will be the next step after ISIS finally captures Baghdad, and thus Iraq?
Hopefully another defeat for the US superpower, and an "Iraq sydrome", similar to the "Vietnam sydrome", to set in.
The US is using the Iraqi army as a weapons laundering mechanism to supply weapons to ISIS. Didn't the Sec of Defense say the Iraqi around Ramadi would not fight, they just ran away? So you give 1.6 billion more dollars worth of weapons to an army that won't fight? Sounds like an in-your-face scam to me.
Just sounds like a round about foreign aid program for ISIS to me.
The bit after the decimal point would have almost covered the TAA, but of course the Iraqi army is more important than US seniors and poor sick people.
Pure hypocrisy
Comes now the UN, Iraq government and Empire USA to implore the international community to donate $.5 million toward an Iraq humanitarian relief fund.