US gives Iraqi Kurdistan peshmerga $250 million worth of Humvees, ammo

[yota691]

US gives Iraqi Kurdistan peshmerga $250 million worth of Humvees, ammo

Washington's ambassador announced the move as some US troops prepare to leave Iraq.

 

 

 

 

 

 Members of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces hold up a giant Kurdish flag as they commemorate Kurdish Flag Day in Makhmur, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, on Dec. 17, 2019, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.  Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images.

 

 

Sep 16, 2020

The United States provided $250 million worth of military equipment to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s peshmerga forces Tuesday.

The shipment included more than 100 radios and vehicles — including Humvees — as well as uniforms and ammunition, according to statements by the Peshmerga Ministry and Washington’s ambassador to Iraq, Matthew Tueller.

Tueller and Peshmerga Minister Shorsh Ismail announced the aid provision at a press conference in Erbil.

“This is a tangible symbol of our commitment to the people of Iraq and to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” Tueller said, according to Rudaw news.

“Just as important as the equipment is the training that comes with it and it was wonderful to observe the soldiers in action before the official handover,” he said.

 

Forces of the US-led multinational coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS) have continued to train both Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan peshmerga forces in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region since the coalition intervened in Iraq in 2014.

The United State is paying more than $15 million per month toward peshmerga salaries, despite recent progress in Baghdad’s relations with the KRG.

Peshmerga units are considered essential in keeping the lid on extremist groups such as IS, but continue to suffer from political factionalism and nepotism, coalition military officers told Al-Monitor at a training facility in Sulaimaniyah last year.

The coalition has urged the peshmerga and Baghdad’s security forces to coordinate more closely and patrol the disputed territories between federally controlled Iraq and the Kurdistan region. The US-led coalition says IS remnants often take refuge in the territories. During last month's strategic dialogue with Iraqi leaders, Washington officials said progress has been made on joint security cooperation.

IS lost its last pocket of territory in a battle at Baghouz in Syria, near the Iraqi border, in March 2019.

The Trump administration is reducing its presence in Iraq by roughly a third this month, to 3,000 personnel, the head of US Central Command Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, said last week.

Earlier this year, the coalition departed several smaller Iraqi military bases around the country to consolidate at larger facilities such as Union III in Baghdad’s Green Zone and Erbil air base.

US Army Maj. Gen. Paul Calvert assumed command of the coalition last week as it continues to shift to focus on advising and mentoring Iraqi military commanders.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s security forces continue operations with coalition support to hunt down suspected IS operatives.

[Happy Man]

The Thurquish people and even some Iraqi people must be mad about this news

[haymon]

WE are paying there salaries??

Oh my gosh....we got one big payback coming.

[yota691]

Iraq: New American armament of peshmerga disturbs Iran's allies

Baghdad

Zaid Salem

20 September 2020

Image

During the delivery of American aid to the Peshmerga forces last Tuesday (Anatolia)

Officials in Baghdad fear that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces will increase their armament through international aid provided by the United States at times and European countries at other times, while some believe that the Iraqi forces are constantly being attacked by the remaining ISIS cells in the northern and western Iraqi regions, The first is with these weapons, while the armed factions, specifically the pro-Iranian factions, question Washington’s intentions and aid to the "peshmerga" and its supply of military equipment. A few days ago, the US ambassador to Iraq, Matthew Toller, announced that his country had provided aid, including military equipment and supplies, to the Ministry of Peshmerga in the Kurdistan region, worth $ 250 million, in addition to allocating a team to train the peshmerga on that equipment. Tueller's announcement came, during a press conference, last Tuesday, that he gathered with the Minister of "Peshmerga", Shorsh Ismail, who also considered that "And an appreciation for its role in combating terrorism, "noting that" cooperation between the two sides will continue to establish security in Iraq and the region. "

Kurdish official: Washington is the one that takes the initiative to provide military aid to the Kurdish forces

The announcement of the aid comes after Tueller met with the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, last Monday. After the meeting, the American ambassador expressed his country's readiness to strengthen economic cooperation with the Kurdistan region, and urged American investors to invest in the region. The aid also came after the second round of the Iraqi-American Strategic Dialogue hosted by Washington last month, where US officials pressured their Iraqi counterparts at the time to settle their differences with Erbil in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, and achieve the Kurds' demands.

 

This comes amid the monitoring of neighboring Turkey and Iran of these steps in the region, which emerged less than three years ago from a failed secession attempt, as a result of which the two countries took steps against the region and imposed severe penalties on it, and closed their borders and their airspace with it, before Baghdad organized a major pressure campaign on the region that led him to Undo step.

A senior Kurdish official told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that “American aid, specifically on the military side, does not come from the submission of Kurdish requests. Rather, it is Washington that takes the initiative to do so, in order to strengthen the military and security forces of the Kurdish forces , and to secure the borders of the Kurdistan region. ", Explaining that" the government in the region realizes the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the United States, and the latter understands the importance of maintaining support for the Kurdistan region with everything it needs, as it hosts one of the most important military bases for the international coalition forces in Iraq (the Silk Base). "

For his part, an Iraqi official at the Ministry of Defense confirmed to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that the aid “was not provided through Baghdad, as stipulated in the constitution,” noting that “arming the Peshmerga forces should be of a limited nature and not compete with the Iraqi army, which is considered The Supreme Federal Force in Iraq. " However, a member of the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Kata Al-Rikabi, explains to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, that "many foreign and American forces have withdrawn from the Iraqi bases that were hosting them, and therefore, the United States took the initiative to give American-made military equipment and wheels to the Peshmerga forces. Because it wants to help the Kurdistan region with something, but because Washington does not feel that retrieving this equipment to the country is important, and it is costing it money, and thus it considered it good to give it to the Peshmerga.

Al-Bayati: The Iraqi forces were the first to assist the Peshmerga

Al-Rikabi believes that "it is illogical to think that this aid is to support the Kurdish efforts seeking to secede from Iraq, because the disengagement file is not a military one , but rather a soft political one." He points out that "the American forces continue to train the peshmerga at the Al-Harir base in the Erbil governorate, and therefore military cooperation is available between the two parties, and there is permanent military linkage and coordination, and it is natural for the US government to help the peshmerga." Which is also normal, given the security cooperation between the two sides. "

In turn, the Iraqi security expert, Sarmad Al-Bayati, believes that "the Kurdistan region is among the important areas for the United States, which considers that the region is the safest for the international coalition forces in Iraq, and therefore donating equipment worth 250 million dollars is a natural matter, and it has previously been to Germany." And other countries that helped the Kurdistan region. " In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, he believes that "the Iraqi forces were the first of the Peshmerga forces with this assistance, as they are in constant contact with ISIS, and they face its attacks almost daily, but the Kurdish forces are not under security pressure."

For his part, Adel Al-Karawi, the official spokesman for the "Ansar Allah Al-Loyal" group, which is one of the armed factions linked to Iran, considers that "the American forces' arming the Kurdish forces is incomprehensible and vague with features and objectives, and there may be harmful consequences for the Iraqi security forces or Baghdad. , Pointing out that "the government is supposed to address the Kurdistan region to find out the reasons for this assistance, in addition to verifying the quality of military equipment through an Iraqi security team."

Karawi: Any assistance provided by Washington to any party whose aims are doubtful

Al-Karawi believes, in an interview with Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, that "Washington does not want the stability of Iraq while it seeks to perpetuate ISIS on the ground, and to reinforce the Arab-Kurdish and Sunni-Shiite divide, and therefore any assistance it provides to any party is doubtful of its aims."

And the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, visited Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, earlier this month, for the first time since he assumed office, where he held a series of meetings to discuss a number of topics, the most prominent of which was resolving the outstanding problems between Baghdad and Erbil on the one hand, and developing security coordination. And the military to confront "ISIS" on the other hand. Al-Kazemi met the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, and the President of the Regional Government, Masrour Barzani. He also met with the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, in the city of Sulaymaniyah, before heading to the city of Halabja.