The United States at times provides military assistance through non-military channels. A CIA program has given selected rebel groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad training and weaponry.
While formal military sales to Kurdistan may be deemed impossible, U.S. officials say they are searching for other ways to empower the Kurds militarily – in conjunction with Bagdhad.
But if the United States seeks to supply Kurds weaponry through Baghdad, it will have to overcome deep Kurdish suspicion of the central government. Baghdad and the KRG are embroiled in a dispute over control of oil sales from Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Kurds were told they would receive some of the equipment the U.S. military left behind when it withdrew in 2011 but Maliki never provided it.
The Iraqi military did not respond to requests for comment.
Since 2003, the United States has spent over $25 billion to train and outfit Iraq’s national army. Very little U.S. training and equipment, most of which has been non-lethal assistance, went to the Peshmerga.
Over the years the Peshmerga have acquired Russian-made weaponry, including some tanks, and a few rescue helicopters. They also captured some weapons last month when they commandeered facilities abandoned by Iraqi soldiers in Kirkuk.
But Kurdish officials say much of what they have is outdated and will be no match for the sophisticated weaponry captured by Islamic State fighters when they swept through northern Iraq.
Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Frank Helmick, who headed the U.S. effort to train Iraqi forces from 2008-2009, said no arms or training were given to the Peshmerga later in the war.
He recalled interacting with Peshmerga fighters early in the Iraq war, when he was a senior officer in northern Iraq. “They were pretty doggone good fighters,” he said. “They weren’t very well armed, but they were fierce fighters.”
[eap_ad_4]