U.S. Cuts Out Middleman in Delivering Weapons to ISIS
Before we get to today’s story, let’s have a quick review from three days ago, shall we?
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi told state TV on Sunday that Iraq’s government lost 2,300 Humvee vehicles when Islamic State insurgents seized the city of Mosul in June 2014.
The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took over Iraq’s second-largest city following the staggering collapse of the Iraqi military in the region. Faced with the militants’ advance, the Iraqi troops defending the city fled so hastily that some soldiers reportedly stripped off their uniforms and left behind the equipment they carried.
Capturing Mosul gave ISIS a major base for operations in Iraq — and, as Abadi’s announcement proves, an enormous cache of weapons and vehicles, much of it provided by the U.S.
And now, today:
For the first time last week, U.S. troops distributed weapons directly to Iraqi fighting units instead of going through the government of Iraq, a major shift in policy.
Sunni tribes and U.S.-trained Iraqi forces complained for months they had received inferior weaponry or, in the case of the Sunni tribes, no weapons at all, while advanced guns and vehicles went to Shiite forces fighting the Islamic State in Tikrit and elsewhere.
Previous U.S. policy had been that all weapons would be delivered to Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated central government, which would then take the lead in distributing them.
After several setbacks in the Anbar province, which is Sunni-dominated, the U.S. increased pressure to distribute weapons directly to the Iraqi troops and tribes.
You see, it was too circuitous to deliver the weapons first to the government, which would give them to Iraqi forces, which would leave them for ISIS. Now we have cut out a middleman (one of them), and will be turning over weapons directly to Iraqi forces, which will then leave them for ISIS.
Once we start giving the weapons to ISIS directly, we will have attained peak efficiency.
Ding.
Patterico (3cc0c1) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:21 amI blame Bush.
(Sorry, that joke is probably getting stale.)
JVW (8278a3) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:24 amhah you should see the weapons food stamp’s leaving for Iran
boom! lol
happyfeet (a037ad) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:24 amWhat is the downside of us providing weapons to each side?
If we could only fence in the borders.
Jim (a9b7c7) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:27 amActually, I heard someone the other day, I think on Bennett or Hewitt that was for this idea (at least in principal), that there were some tribal groups of Sunni’s who were committed to fight ISIS, just as there are Kurds, who also, I guess, haven’t been getting enough US aid.
That said, I have little confidence that this administration will get it right,
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:30 amunless they think actually letting ISIS get hit harder will be good for domestic popularity.
when we discontinued the surge, and let Maliki to his own devices, this taught the Sunni tribes, ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ same with the Kurds, and even the NCR anti Mullah rebels,
narciso (ee1f88) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:32 amWe’ve been arming ISIS directly for years. That’s what the CIA was doing in benghazi.
Transferring weapons from the Benghazi fighters to the Syrian fighters who became ISIS.
The obama/hillary/muslim brotherhood machine at work.
MaaddMaaxx (bc1c5d) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:34 amHave Eric Holder run the project. He did a fabulous job running weapons into Mexico.
Or maybe the cash for clunkers czar Steve Rattner could do it.
I read that to capture part of Ramadi the Daesh used a captured armored CAT D-9 Bulldozer (largest most powerful bulldozer CAT makes) which was used to clear vehicle barriers around a base and the Iraqis let it work for over an hour. Then the Daesh filled 3 bullet proof MRAP’s with explosives and used them as suicide bombs against the Iraqi base that were reminiscent of Tim McVeigh’s blast in OKC. The Iraqis had no heavy weapons to take out the D-9 or the 3 MRAP’s and got their asses kicked. Their tanks were surrendered a long time ago although I read the Iraqi’s and the Daesh don’t know how to maintain them.
I say we encourage all Iraqi’s to surrender their vehicle equipment. That way if our planes see a humvee on the road they’ll know it’s got bad guys inside.
steveg (fed1c9) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:49 amThat bring me to another thought… at some point(s) in these battles, the Daesh have to mass their firepower and massed humvees, MRAP’s etc should be highly susceptable to air strikes.
Something tells me our airstrikes are not as coordinated as our dear leader thinks.
Our dear leader thinks we are winning and have never lost a thing since he became our blessed one. In fact our stature in the world has increased, yes, increased and we are respected again around the globe because we are humble enough to lose all our equipment to ali baba. (see hf’s foodstamp amerifail series for our actual stauture))
I have to agree with MD in Philly. Supposedly, Baghdad was not giving the Sunnis and the Kurks any weaponry, so now after much criticism, we are doing it directly. At least I hope we’re arming the Kurds.
It would be a miracle if anything worked at this point to end this debacle, but that’s the theory anyways.
Patricia (5fc097) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:50 amWell, my understanding is that it was again an indirect route (barely) — but you’re right, Mosul was not the only instance of our arms going to ISIS.
Patterico (3cc0c1) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:57 amThe only thing left to quibble about is just how royally are we f***ed.
Oh, yeah, and the Iraqis and Afghanis who screwed up and trusted us.
But we are all a minor concern compared to the DREAMERS.
Steve57 (6a0485) — 6/4/2015 @ 1:14 pmI would hope that “direct delivery” also includes the Kurds, whom we know can – and will – fight!
askeptic (efcf22) — 6/4/2015 @ 2:33 pmairstrikes…..
askeptic (efcf22) — 6/4/2015 @ 2:37 pmToo bad we don’t have a ‘rogue’ general that would go off and form an American Volunteer Group equipped with A-10’s to be based in Kurdistan (do the Kurds have insignia for wings and tails?)?
It would at least make things interesting, and Hollywood could make dozens of movies.
happyfeet (a037ad) — 6/4/2015 @ 7:24 am
We can’t even fence our southern border, and now you want us to quarantine most of the Middle-East?
askeptic (efcf22) — 6/4/2015 @ 2:39 pm“U.S. troops distributed weapons directly to Iraqi fighting units instead of going through the government of Iraq, a major shift in policy.”
Now the Iranians won’t have to ship munitions from Iran to resupply the militias.
Davod (f3a711) — 6/4/2015 @ 4:18 pmThe point is that the Shi’ite government and troops see no point in fighting and dying for Sunni lives. So they don’t — they defend their own. Sunnis mostly don’t want ISIS either, any more than most Christians want the Klan running things.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 6/4/2015 @ 4:29 pmIraq’s government lost 2,300 Humvee vehicles when Islamic State insurgents seized the city of Mosul in June 2014.
You’d think they would be useful for running away. Maybe they were out of gas or don’t know how to drive.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 6/4/2015 @ 6:50 pmYou’re late to the party. From the Duffle Blog. (A parody site, if you couldn’t tell.)
Robert Bell (c54ff4) — 6/4/2015 @ 11:40 pm