To defeat Islamic State, arm the Kurds, retired general says

[Sally]

They should have been armed a long time ago.

To defeat Islamic State, arm the Kurds, retired general says
By Howard Altman | Tribune Staff
Published: July 5, 2015


America’s most competent and trustworthy indigenous ally in the fight against Islamic State is making gains in both Iraq and Syria despite a lack of arms and equipment. And it is coming at a heavy cost.

Jay Garner has some advice.

Give the Kurds — who are mostly armed only with rocket propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles — more lethal weapons. Give them vehicles. Deploy A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Apache attack helicopters specifically to provide rapid close air support to help the Kurds maintain their long and tenuous front against the Islamic State and to continue their advances toward Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

“The Kurds have lost close to 5,000 troops if not more,” says Garner. “I don’t know how many have been injured. Probably many thousands. Most of that is because they don’t have the weapons they need. Most of the casualties would have been averted had they been supplied correctly.”

More than most people in Florida who don’t work inside the gates of MacDill Air Force Base, Garner has a good idea of how to help the Kurds.

Continue reading at:

To defeat Islamic State arm the Kurds retired general says TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune





A retired Army three-star and former Army Asst. Vice Chief of Staff, Garner first got to know the Kurds during his stint as Commanding General, Joint Task Force Bravo during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq after Desert Storm.

 

[aris2chat]

and turkey will attack the kurds

 

[montelatici]

and turkey will attack the kurds

Aris is correct.

 

[Supreme Allied Condista]

They should have been armed a long time ago.
To defeat Islamic State, arm the Kurds, retired general says

I agree - arm the Kurds - and will provide details of specifically what arms and how to supply them below.

and turkey will attack the kurds

We shouldn't be crippled by what our NATO allies Turkey think about us helping our Kurdish allies.

But it is handy to have an idea of what Turkey's motives might be when they start throwing hissy-fits when we start arming up the Kurds. Turkey is worried about Turkish Kurds using US weapons sourced from Iraq Kurds to fight Turkey to break the Kurdish part of Turkey away from Turkey.

If we can reassure Turkey that we have their backs too - that we firmly support the territorial integrity of Turkey as a NATO member as we would any other NATO member - that the Kurds have responsibilities to us that we will hold them to - they must not use weapons we give them against our Turkish allies - maybe Turkey will chill out and not attack the Kurds because then the Turkish government can save face with their countrymen because of the reassurances we can give them.

A bit of diplomacy and politics doesn't cost us anything and if it saves a battle we don't need, so much the better.

The President visited the Pentagon to encourage his military leadership team, to order them as Commander-in-Chief to accelerate delivery of the President's objectives and I'm supporting the President's lead with practical suggestions.

The President didn't visit the Pentagon to claim "job done" because he knows that as far as defeating ISIS is concerned, the job is far from done.

Video: President Barack Obama's Statement to Press

Arming the Kurds.

but ...
SPIN: Trainers and advisors sent to Kurdistan
REALITY: Fox News reports American special forces required to transit to Kurdistan via Baghdad when they are not allowed to take their heavy weapons and must leave them in Baghdad.

SPIN: ($350 million in equipment to be provided as part of training)
REALITY: New American reports ISIS Seized $1 Billion of U.S. Military Aid. Christian Post reports
ISIS Budget Exceeds $2 Billion in 2015

SPIN: Anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes coordinated with Kurdish forces
REALITY: Fox News reports DELTA and other U.S. special forces currently on the ground are not allowed to participate in the war against ISIS and fight with the Kurds, preventing the most effective coordination of air-strikes with Forward Air Controllers (FAC) / Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) on the ground.

SPIN: 1,000 anti-tank missiles & 40 mine-resistant vehicles sent to Kurdish forces
REALITY: Fox News reports the Kurds dispute those numbers, insisting a lot of those weapons were never transferred to them after being given to Baghdad.

SPIN: $15 million in airlift support, transporting supplies from the U.S. and other coalition partners
REALITY: Huff Post reports Kurds cannot receive US arms directly though Kurds want weapons delivered directly

AT-4 anti-tank weapons

US troops using AT-4 anti-tank weapon

Range - 300 metres.
Cost - $1,500
Design Purpose - It is intended to give infantry units a means to destroy or disable armoured vehicles and fortifications although it is not generally sufficient to defeat a modern main battle tank (MBT).
Why the Kurdish army, the Peshmerga need them - useful against ISIS seized HUMVEEs looted from the Iraqi army which have been packed with high explosive and are been driven at high-speed by an ISIS suicide bomber towards the Peshmerga's front lines
How many the Kurds need - Stocks of about 20 per mile of defended front line. 2,000 per 100 miles of front line. Kurds front line with ISIS estimated at 600 miles, so they require to hold stocks of about 12,000 total cost $18 million
How many promised - 1,000
How many received - unknown because the Kurds complain of difficulties in receiving deliveries sent via Baghdad

BGM-71 TOW anti-tank weapons



Range - 4,500 metres.
Cost - $60,000
Design Purpose - The Raytheon BGM-71 TOW is a heavy anti-armor/assault missile used by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.
Why the Kurdish army, the Peshmerga need them - useful against as many as 40 ISIS seized Abrams M1A1 Main Battle Tanks looted from the Iraqi army plus other main battle tanks.
How many the Kurds need - 1 per mile of defended front lines. 600 miles of front line requires stocks of about 600, total cost $36 million
How many promised - None.
How many received - None.


M2 Heavy Machine Gun



Range - 6,800 metres.
Cost - $14,000
Design Purpose - The Browning M2 .50 caliber (12.7mm) Machine Gun, is a World War II era automatic, belt-fed, recoil operated, air-cooled, crew-operated machine gun.
Why the Kurdish army, the Peshmerga need them - useful against attacking ISIS fighters in anything but armoured vehicles.
How many the Kurds need - about 8 per mile of defended front line. 600 miles of front line requires about 4,800, total cost $67 million
How many promised - None.
How many received - None.

Total cost of this request
$18 million (AT-4s) + $38 million (BGM-71 TOWs) + $67 million (M2s)
= $123 million
GOOD VALUE TO STOP ISIS in their tracks at Kurdish front lines!


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