ISIS has routed Kurdish forces in their early engagements, mostly because they are better armed. The Associated Press notes:
In a bitter irony, the extremists used American armored vehicles and weapons they had seized from the hapless Iraqi military to defeat Kurdish fighters who were blocked from acquiring just such equipment….
Yes, it’s true. The Obama administration has for years been denying the Kurds’ requests to BUY American munitions:
For years, Kurdish officials have beseeched the Obama administration to let them buy U.S. weapons. And for just as long, the administration has rebuffed the Kurds, America’s closest allies in Iraq.
U.S. officials insisted they could only sell arms to the government in Baghdad, even after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki broke a written promise to deliver some of them to the Kurds….
There are rumors that the CIA might be supplying the Kurds with small amounts of weaponry, but is the Obama administration finally willing to help arm the Kurds in a significant way? Perhaps not:
Pentagon officials say their policy hasn’t changed — they will only sell arms to Baghdad.
My God, how lame is it possible for a human being to be? The peshmerga are a brave, competent fighting force. But they need modern weapons–and they are even willing to pay for them! Everyone knows that air strikes are of limited use at best. They can kill a handful of terrorists and momentarily disrupt operations, but they cannot win a war, which is what is going on in Iraq. As in so many other areas, the Obama administration is reaping the bitter fruit of years of bad policies. But better late than never: we should arm the Kurds, immediately.
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