peshmerga

Kurds Criticize Abadi For Not Mentioning Their Role in Defeating IS

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi publicly announced that the three-year war aimed at driving the Islamic State out of Iraq was successful and has come to an end. But what he didn’t do was acknowledge the role the Iraqi Kurds played in the defeating of ISIS. And that has the peshmerga forces rightfully mad.

“Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border, and I therefore announce the end of the war against Daesh [IS],” Abadi said at a conference in Baghdad that was arranged by the Iraqi journalists’ union.
IS fighters seized control of nearly one-third of Iraq in the summer of 2014, threatening the very existence of the Iraqi state. Over the past three-and-one half years, however, Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition recaptured all of the territory. Peshmerga forces were part of the international coalition that fought against IS.
Peshmerga Ministry claimed in a statement that 1,824 Peshmerga fighters had been “martyred” and more than 10,000 injured in the fight against IS. A statement issued by the U.S. State Department did not mention Peshmerga’s role in the defeat of IS in Iraq, either.
However, the United Kingdom acknowledged the role of Peshmerga, along with Iraqi forces, in defeating the IS group.
“The UK, as a Coalition member, has played a leading role in supporting the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Armed Forces and the Peshmerga, in the fight against Daesh,” said a statement from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

The Kurds know that they have no friends in the Iraqi government. Which is why they voted, overwhelmingly so, in favor of a referendum for Kurdish independence from Baghdad. That caused the Iraqis to seize their oil-rich territory with the help from the Iranian backed militias.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Germany Resumes Training of Peshmerga, But for How Long?

In the fight against the Islamic State terrorists, the German army was providing training and arms for the Peshmerga, the Kurdish people from Iraq who have been invaluable allies in the Global War on Terror. That mission was halted for a week, however, due to the conflict behind the Iraqi Kurds and the Baghdad government

The German army has restarted a training mission in Iraqi Kurdistan after a week’s pause. But the mission’s continuation is in doubt due to the conflict between the autonomous Kurdish region and Iraq. But for how long will the Germans train the peshmerga?

Germany’s army will continue to ensure that German-supplied weapons will only be used in the fight against the militant “Islamic State” (IS) group in Iraq, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Monday.
The Bundeswehr has been training and supplying weapons to the peshmerga for three years to help the Iraqi Kurds beat back IS militants. Peshmerga forces have assured the German government that the weapons supplied were only being used against IS.
“We do not have any reason to doubt that these agreements are being violated on a large scale,” the ministry spokesman said in Berlin. He added that it wasn’t possible in conflict areas to track the whereabouts of each weapon.
The German army has provided some 32,000 assault rifles and machine guns, as well as the MILAN anti-tank missile, valued at some €90 million ($106 million) since September 2014. Some 150 Bundeswehr troops are in northern Iraq, and peshmerga units have also received training in Germany.
But the training mission was suspended for a week after the central government in Baghdad, backed by Iranian-trained paramilitary groups, moved to reassert control over disputed territories the Kurds have captured since June 2014.

Iraq government spokesman claimed that peshmerga forces used Milan anti-tank missiles during the clash in Kirkuk. The Germans wouldn’t confirm or deny the claim. The current training mission is due to be completed in January 2018. At that time the Germans will have to decide whether or not to continue the mission or withdraw.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welle click here:

Photo courtesy Bundeswehr

Kurdish Forces Pushed Out of Long-held Lands by Iraqi Army, Shia Militias

Kurdish forces, in a stunning series of events, have been forced to abandon lands they had controlled since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, after Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Shia militias swept into areas that had been hoped to be an independent Kurdistan.

These peshmerga units were forced out of the towns of Bashiqa, Khanaqin, and Sinjar less than a day after surrendering the city of Kirkuk earlier. Any hopes for a Kurdish independent state now seem dashed. The Kurds had voted on an independence referendum on September 25 to hold onto their lands they’ve held since Saddam lost power and they’ve seized back in battles against the Islamic State.

The rapid fall of Kirkuk gave impetus to the capitulation across northern Iraq, with forces loyal to Baghdad sweeping unopposed into areas that military leaders thought they would have to fight for.
Instead, Iraqi troops found empty streets, shuttered shops and primitive roadblocks, which were quickly cleared, before the relaxed arrivals took up their new positions.
On the northern entrances to Kirkuk, a day after the rout, senior peshmerga officers appeared stunned by what had taken place. Few agreed to be interviewed as they set up new defences 25 miles away from the city.
Diggers gouged trenches in scorched brown earth, and bulldozers piled dirt into hilltop berms, while others cleared mounds on roads that had been intended to stop Iraqi advances.

The US and the Trump administration did not support the Kurds or their independence referendum. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “the vote and the results lack legitimacy.” Many of the Kurds look upon this action by the US as the ultimate betrayal of a faithful ally since the initial Gulf War of 1990.

Meanwhile, Tillerson said that the US will “continue to support a united, federal, democratic and prosperous Iraq.” That must be welcome news in Tehran, as the Kurds believe, as do many others that the Iranians are exerting far too much influence in Baghdad.

To read the entire article from The Guardian, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia