ORAC
18th Dec 2015, 07:22
That's going to piss off the Turks, and Iraqi government. "President" Barzani, hmmmmm. Obama finally choosing sides?
Defense Secretary Carter vows to arm Kurdish brigades for upcoming Battle of Mosul (http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/12/17/defense-secretary-carter-vows-arm-kurdish-brigades-upcoming-battle-mosul/77496810/)
ERBIL, Iraq — Planning for the future battle of Mosul got a boost Thursday when Defense Secretary Ash Carter agreed to give the Kurdish peshmerga two brigade-size equipment sets to help them lead that fight.
The agreement came while Carter was visiting northern Iraq and met with Kurdish leaders. It was the latest stop on the secretary’s trip across the Middle East talking to top U.S. generals and allied leaders about ways to increase military pressure on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“What I discussed with [Kurdish] President [Masoud] Barzani is the future of the campaign, particularly the role his forces can play in the encirclement and recapture of Mosul,” Carter told reporters in Iraq on Thursday. He agreed to immediately provide the Kurds with “two brigades' worth of equipment to be used to arm the two brigades that they will contribute to the encirclement of Mosul."
The gear will be shipped from U.S. storage facilities in Kuwait and likely will arrive within weeks, a senior defense official said. The package will equip more than 4,000 Kurdish militiamen and include weapons, small- and medium-sized tactical vehicles, fuel tankers, radio equipment and an array of gear to counter improvised explosive devices, the senior official said.
Islamic State militants seized Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June 2014 and U.S. military officials believe the push to retake it may be the decisive battle for ultimately dismantling the fledgling extremist state. “Mosul is sort of the next logical place,” said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Odom, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq.
Defense Secretary Carter vows to arm Kurdish brigades for upcoming Battle of Mosul (http://www.defensenews.com/story/military/pentagon/2015/12/17/defense-secretary-carter-vows-arm-kurdish-brigades-upcoming-battle-mosul/77496810/)
ERBIL, Iraq — Planning for the future battle of Mosul got a boost Thursday when Defense Secretary Ash Carter agreed to give the Kurdish peshmerga two brigade-size equipment sets to help them lead that fight.
The agreement came while Carter was visiting northern Iraq and met with Kurdish leaders. It was the latest stop on the secretary’s trip across the Middle East talking to top U.S. generals and allied leaders about ways to increase military pressure on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
“What I discussed with [Kurdish] President [Masoud] Barzani is the future of the campaign, particularly the role his forces can play in the encirclement and recapture of Mosul,” Carter told reporters in Iraq on Thursday. He agreed to immediately provide the Kurds with “two brigades' worth of equipment to be used to arm the two brigades that they will contribute to the encirclement of Mosul."
The gear will be shipped from U.S. storage facilities in Kuwait and likely will arrive within weeks, a senior defense official said. The package will equip more than 4,000 Kurdish militiamen and include weapons, small- and medium-sized tactical vehicles, fuel tankers, radio equipment and an array of gear to counter improvised explosive devices, the senior official said.
Islamic State militants seized Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June 2014 and U.S. military officials believe the push to retake it may be the decisive battle for ultimately dismantling the fledgling extremist state. “Mosul is sort of the next logical place,” said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Odom, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq.