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Home Front: WoT
Rand Paul: Arm Iraq's Kurds and give them a country
2015-03-12
[RUDAW.NET] US senator and possible 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul called for direct arms supplies to Iraqi Kurds fighting the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) and said the Kurds should have their own homeland.
Go ahead, pick any or all of the potential 'homelands' as depicted on the map. They're yours at no charge.
"The arms are going through Baghdad to get to the Kurds and they're being siphoned off and they're not getting what they need," Paul said in an interview with Breitbart News. "I think any arms coming from us or coming from any European countries ought to go directly to the Kurds."

The United States and several European countries are supplying arms to the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, but nearly all of the weapons are routed through the central government in Baghdad.

Kurdish officials have repeatedly complained about Baghdad's reluctance to deliver arms sent by coalition forces for their Peshmerga forces.The central government fears that any strengthening of the Peshmerga would fuel ambitions of independence among the Kurds.

The US State Department reiterated last month that arms for Peshmerga forces will continue to be routed through the central government in Baghdad.

Paul said it was about time the Kurds were given their own homeland.

Suggesting a change in US policy, which has been staunchly opposed to Kurdish independence, he said: "I would draw new lines for Kurdistan and I would promise them a country."
Posted by:Fred

#10  Folks, you know I am the biggest booster of a free and independent Kurdistan. It would be the greatest thing to happen to probably the best Muslim subgroup in the middle east. But it screws with so many people, and bangs up the power politics in the region so badly that even if we try to force it, powers there will strangle the new nation in its cradle. Here's the problem: they are landlocked, and nobody around them wants Kurdistan to exist. Until that is addressed other than an air bridge, its going to be a show stopper.

Still, Ive been among the Kurds and I still think its worth taking the chance, eventually, to secure them a nation somehow. Maybe piss off the world, and let them ally with Jordan, the only Arab nation there that's even half way inclined toward a little liberty. Or better yet, ally them with Israel (heads explode all over the region including Israel and Kurdistan)
Posted by: OldSpook   2015-03-12 22:45  

#9  Interesting idea, JohnQC. But we don't have to bypass the central government. Just use the Erbil airport and let the Kurds truck the weapons to Baghdad. Think of all the jet fuel we'd save! And create more local jobs for truck drivers!
Posted by: Bobby   2015-03-12 13:06  

#8  "The arms are going through Baghdad to get to the Kurds and they're being siphoned off and they're not getting what they need,

Why not fly arms directly into Erbil International Airport? Bypass Baghdad.

Like the Frankenstein monster, Iraq was one of those made up states in the early part of the 1900s. Originally, it was set up as a Sunni-dominant state. The Kurds having their own state would make as much sense as the hodge podge that is Iraq now.
Posted by: JohnQC   2015-03-12 12:20  

#7  Well we might not care about Turkey anymore. But it would sure piss off teh 0ne's new ally, Iran and we just can't have that now can we?
Posted by: DarthVader   2015-03-12 11:21  

#6  Well, it's not like we have to worry about losing Turkey.
Posted by: Iblis   2015-03-12 10:24  

#5  Arm the Philippinpos and let them defeat Japan. Yeah right. And for those who tell of Pearl Harbor, Pearl Harbor <<<<<<<< 9-11
Posted by: JFM   2015-03-12 05:52  

#4  Not gonna happen.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2015-03-12 05:48  

#3  About time.
Posted by: Lionel Thoth9784   2015-03-12 02:54  

#2  USJCS Chair DEMPSEY'S "OTHER POST-ISIS PROBLEM" besides Iran + Shiite Militias in Iraq.

* FYI WAFF > TURKEY'S KURDS TO HIT 50.0MILYUHN-PLUS [about 55% of Total] BY 2050 | A KURDISH MAJORITY IN TURKEY WIDIN ONE GENERATION!?

Looks like any post-ISIS/GWOT? Kurdistan may be much larger than the original, and by default???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2015-03-12 02:25  

#1  Well what do you know... and from a Libertarian of all people?
Posted by: OldSpook   2015-03-12 02:15  

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