Israel should arm the Kurds

In recent days, the US administration has increasingly been putting pressure on the Kurds to back away from the Kurdistan independence referendum. They are seeking for the Iraqi Supreme Court to declare that the referendum was illegal and for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) leadership to declare that they accept court’s ruling, which will enable the KRG leadership to back away from the referendum while saving face. This policy is a disaster waiting to happen and the Israeli government should take a stand against it by arming the Kurds, so that they will be able to fight for their independent state.

To date, the Kurds were given only light arms to fight Islamic State (ISIS). All of the arms the US Congress authorized to go to the Kurds were diverted to the Iraqi central government, which gave those arms to the Shi’ite militias. These militias in turn utilized those weapons to attack the Kurds in Kirkuk and elsewhere.

The US administration led by Brett McGurk, an Obama appointee, seeks to re-elect Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at all costs and punish the Kurds for not heeding the US request to postpone the independence referendum.

As a result, the Kurds lost the ability to sell Kirkuk oil. They are being oppressed left and right in the areas that fell to the Iraqi central government.

They are being held hostage for fuel, food and other basic humanitarian supplies. Their rights and gains are being erased by the Iraqi Supreme Court. Kurdish national and cultural symbols are being purged from the area. The Kurds are essentially being ethnically cleansed from the area and this is a major loss for the State of Israel as well as the free world.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Israel-should-arm-the-Kurds-515340