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| Iraq |
| Outgunned and untested for years, Kurdish peshmerga struggle vs IS |
| 2014-08-14 |
| (Reuters) - The Kurdish peshmerga fighter ran out of ammunition but saved two bullets to end his own life in case Islamic State militants caught up with him as he fled the front line in northwest Iraq. My uncle and his buddy also saved two bullets for each other in a foxhole at Wheeler Field in the days just after Pearl Harbor. After a two-month stand-off along a 1,000-kilometre (630 mile) long front, the Kurds failed their first major test, allowing the Sunni militants who want to redraw the map of the Middle East to grab more towns, oil fields and Iraq's biggest dam. The peshmerga, literally "those who confront death", had built up a reputation as fearsome warriors, but in the end they proved no match for the better-armed militants who attacked them with suicidal zeal. "They took us by surprise," said the peshmerga fighter, who asked to remain unnamed because the force had been ordered not to divulge any information about their defeat. "For every mortar round we fired, they fired 100 back. We didn't know where they were coming from. We lost contact with each other. We didn't have enough weapons. It was chaos," he told Reuters. .... The routing damaged the peshmergas' aura of invincibility as one of the only fighting forces in Iraq capable of taking on the Islamic State, and threatened the Kurdistan region's standing as the sole patch of stability in a country torn by sectarian conflict. "This was the first time we saw the peshmerga withdraw, and it had a deep impact on all the peshmerga and the whole of Kurdish society," said spokesman General Halgurd Hikmat. .... Stretched thin over a vast area and armed with Soviet-era weapons raided from the Iraqi army during the 2003 invasion, the peshmerga were unprepared to confront an enemy that has been honing its skills in neighboring Syria for the past two years...The Islamic State was also better equipped with weapons plundered from the Iraq army, including long-range artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers, and sniper rifles, as well as tons of ammunition. They were also flush with cash. "Yes, there have been some reverses by the peshmerga and disorganization, some withdrawals in certain places, but this is not a conventional war," said Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, admitting that even the most expert peshmerga commanders had been stunned by the ferocity of the Islamic State. "Nobody should underestimate their ability and capacity. They are attacking with small numbers, mobile forces and speed: they are not holding territory." |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #7 They need heavy weaponry, artillery supply. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-08-14 12:18 |
| #6 Also significantly omitted in this article is that the Peshmerga were deployed outside their home are, for which they are neither trained nor equipped. Put that with chronic under supply, lack of intel support, and the need to maintain the bulk of their forces for homeland defense, plus dealing with refugees in a humane manner, and they were set up to fail. In areas where they had adequate supplies, they have halted ISIS, and even pushed them back. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-08-14 12:16 |
| #5 the IS forces are very vulnerable to any competent air campaign - even drones could do a lot of damage pretty quickly regarding funding - initially IS was funded by rich arabs in SA, Qatar, etc. with some cooperation by Turkey and Iran but all that is pretty much over; currently IS is funded by what they looted from the Iraq govt (which includes vast amounts of weapons) and what they can extort from the locals |
| Posted by: lord garth 2014-08-14 10:04 |
| #4 Sounds like a reasonable course of action Ed. Please exempt the Ferguson, Mo. Police Department if you would. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-08-14 08:47 |
| #3 Here's a concept: How 'bout we round up all the light infantry gear DoD has been handing out to police forces here and give it all to the Kurds? Or would this interfere with somebody's long term plan? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-08-14 07:56 |
| #2 Yes, who's funding and arming ISIS? because it's costing a bundle. "Reporters" seem to be unable to bother digging... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-08-14 07:34 |
| #1 IS seems to be funded by the Gulf states and supported by Turkey which explains why they are attacking the Kurds to please the Turks. |
| Posted by: Paul D 2014-08-14 03:08 |