Blog Post

AEIdeas

Make no mistake: It is essential that the Iraqi government, and Iraqi and Syrian Kurds both have the material they need to fight the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh). When Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi took the reins of power in Baghdad in 2014, he inherited an impossible situation: ISIS had seized broad swaths of territory, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. The precipitous American withdrawal also undercut his ability to resist Iranian pressure.

Nevertheless, he rallied Iraqi forces—both regular army and volunteers—to push back the Islamic State from places like Tikrit and Beiji. There have also been major setbacks: After Iraqi forces lost Ramadi, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter suggested that the Iraqi army lacked the “will to fight.” This was unfair given that they had been fighting in Ramadi for months before a coordinated multiple ISIS truck bomb attack devastated Iraqi lines. (In recent days, Iraqi forces are once again on the offensive around Ramadi). Iraqi forces instead complain that they lacked the necessary weaponry to neutralize ISIS vehicle bombs from beyond their kill zone, a grievance which the State Department acknowledges.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) meanwhile complains that they are also not receiving weaponry. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the KRG representative in Washington, has gone so far as to tell congressmen that Baghdad has not transferred weaponry to the Kurds for the fight against the Islamic State.

According to Iraqi government data which I reproduce below, the international coalition has delivered 369 plane loads of military equipment and weaponry to the KRG between August 21, 2014 and June 22, 2015. As to the national breakdown: 131 British flights, 71 Italian flights, 45 US supply flights, 35 Canadian flights, 31 German flights, 28 French flights, 15 from Australia, six from the Netherlands, two each from Russia and the Czech Republic, and a single flight each from Ukraine and Norway. This list, of course, only includes official purchases. The KRG has separately received weaponry from Iran, Bulgaria, and Hungary, the manifests for which are not available to Baghdad and so are also not included below. The list is long, but it is important to reproduce to assess more fully and accurate what the KRG might need. As for supplies delivered:

26,046,985 7.62x39mm rounds

10,937,250 7.62x54Rmm rounds

5,508,800 7.62x51mm G3/MG3 rounds

10,000,000 5.56mm G36 rifle rounds

662,572 14.5mm DSHK MG rounds

624,750 12.7 DSHK MG rounds

1,002,500 9mm Pistole P1 rounds

52,158 RPG-7 rounds

108 RPG-3 rounds

3,941 SPG-9 rounds

1,892 Panzerfaust AT rounds

1,000 Schwere Pazner AT rounds

1,000 Folgore AT rounds

800 Milar AT rockets

60 84mm M2 Carl Gustav AT rounds

30,240 hand grenades

11,878 AK-47s

8,040 G36 5.56×45 rifles

8,080 G3 7.62×51 rifles

8,040 9mm Pistole P1 Pistols

445 Type 56-1 MG

82 12.7mm DSHK MG

100 Browning MG

100 MG 49/54

40 MG3 762×51

39,792 60mm mortar rounds

11,609 120mm mortar rounds

24,045 82mm mortar rounds

3 M2CG 84mm recoilless rifles

10 M2CG 84mm RR Launcher Units

90 120mm mortar fuses

90 120mm mortar propellant

6 120 mm mortar tubes

202 82mm mortar tubes

440 60mm mortar tubes

2,172 RPG-7 launchers

150 RPG-3 launchers

28 sniper rifles

40 Milan AT systems

4 Milan night sights

30 G3 trainers

33 RPG-3 trainers

60 RPG03 training rounds

8,500 helmets

8,000 uniforms

5 ambulances

3 Dingo armored vehicles

2,000 NBC protective masks

300 binoculars

In recent months especially, even more aid has poured into Iraqi Kurdistan:

4,000 uniforms (February 28)

4,000 helmets (February 28)

12 82mm mortar tubes (March 2)

30 60mm mortar tubes (March 2)

6 120 mm mortar tubes (March 2)

500 helmets (March 2)

70 Vallons (March 22)

2,309 SPG-9 rounds (April 12)

1,748,000 7.62x39mm rounds (April 15)

1,632 SPG-9 rounds (April 19)

4 Milan Night Sights (April 25)

20 Milan systems (April 25)

30 G3 Trainers (April 25)

3 G3s (April 25)

2 Dingo Armored Vehicles (April 25)

3 Ambulances (April 25)

1,000 NBC protective masks (April 25)

300 binoculars (April 25)

1,188,000 5.56 rounds (May 2)

1,300,000 7.62×51 rounds (May 2)

1 Dingo Armored vehicle (May 2)

2 Ambulances (May 2)

300 Milan rockets (May 12)

5,000 hand grenades (May 12)

120,000 G3 7.62×51 rounds (May 12)

1,392 Panzerfaust AT rounds (May 12)

1,182,000 5.56mm rounds (May 13)

1,088,800 7.62×51 rounds (May 13)

108 RPG-3 rounds (May 13)

60 84mm M2 Carl Gustav AT rounds (May 13)

60 RPG-3 training rounds (May 13)

1,000 60mm mortar rounds (May 22)

999 120mm mortar rounds (May 22)

999 82mm mortar rounds (May 22)

90 120mm mortar fuses (May 22)

90 120mm mortar propellant (May 22)

150 RPG-3 Launchers (May 30)

3 M2CG 84mm recoilless rifles (May 30)

10 M2CG 84mm RR launchers (May 30)

80 G3 rifles (May 30)

40 P1 Pistols (May 30)

3,000,000 5.56 mm rounds (May 30)

33 RPG-3 Trainers (May 30)

20 Milan AT Launchers (May 30)

1,000 NBC Protective Masks (May 30)

When Barham Salih, now a senior Kurdish statesman, was based in Washington as the KRG representative, he had a philosophy: he would not lie, even if he might not volunteer the whole truth. The reason was simple. To get caught in a lie would be to lose all future credibility. Perhaps it’s time for Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman to be a bit more like Barham and to stop spinning a false tale of woe to congressmen while her patrons divert weaponry to their political party and away from the fight against the Islamic State. And, as for US congressmen, rather than blindly repeat calls for more arms to be delivered to Iraqi Kurdistan, it’s long past time to demand transparency on the whereabouts of the weaponry provided: How much of it is warehoused in Erbil or distributed to party apparatchiks? How much has actually reached the frontlines in regions like Kirkuk where it is most sorely needed?

Of importance, too, is the fact that the above weaponry has only been supplied to the Iraqi Kurds. The Syrian Kurds (the People’s Protection Units or YPG) have stood up far more to the Islamic State. They have not fled or abandoned civilians to their fate, as the Kurdistan Democratic Party Peshmerga did with the Yezidis at Sinjar. And yet they have received exponentially less. If aid is given to the Kurds, a similar quantity should be supplied directly to the YPG. That is, of course, if the White House and Pentagon actually wish to defeat the Islamic State rather than simply talk about it.