Posted on 10/06/2017 5:43:35 AM PDT by huldah1776
The US government has stopped paying Kurdish peshmerga fighters’ salaries after a yearlong agreement expired over the summer, and there are no current plans to renew it.
Under the deal negotiated by the Barack Obama administration in July 2016, the United States agreed to pay stipends to some 36,000 Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. The agreement was expected to be renewed over the summer for another year, but US and Kurdish officials tell Al-Monitor that talks stalled as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) pursued a divisive referendum on independence and the IS presence in the region began to collapse.
“The department does not currently fund stipend payments for the peshmerga,” Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon told Al-Monitor. “The memorandum of understanding between the Department of Defense and the KRG facilitating stipend support during the Mosul operation expired in July 2017, and the final stipend payment was transferred in early September.”
Peshmerga sources flatly accuse the Donald Trump administration of withholding support because of opposition to last month’s nonbinding referendum. The United States has taken Baghdad’s side in the dispute and refused to recognize the results, which indicate overwhelming support for Kurdish independence.
***snip*** Regardless, Pahon said the Pentagon continues to support the peshmerga with other forms of “military cooperation and security assistance” such as training and equipment.
“The stipend is not the entirety, or even the bulk, of our support for peshmerga forces fighting [IS],” he said. “We are providing the necessary support to our partner forces, at the approval of the government of Iraq, for ensuring the defeat" of IS.
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
This caught my attention too:
NY SCREENING OF KURDISH FIGHTER FILM SOLD OUT DESPITE TERROR THREAT
The Kurds didnt REALLY buy all those promises about independence - did they?
This will end well
The Kurds are the only good guys in that region.
yes
And they need and deserve a country of their own.
Are these the Syrian Kurds and not the Iraqi Kurds? In my meager knowledge I have heard that they are at different points on the political spectrum.
I’ll get you an expert... :)
One of the problems has been that there are also Turkish Kurds. Becoming less of a problem as Turkey has gone more fully over to the crazy side.
> they (the Kurds) need and deserve a country of their own <
Yep. Joe Biden - of all people - was right when he said back in 2006 that Iraq should be split into three separate countries.
You make it sound like having it rough is new to the Kurds. What better way to stick a thorn in the side of Iran and let Turkey know their poor choices will come with consequences? I say the US should fully support Kurdish independence.
Note. There were Israeli Jets on the ground in Erbil on the day of the election. There are rumors that Israel is training Kurdish pilots.
“This will end well”
I agree.
The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) is in Erbil, Iraq.
The Syrian Kurds face a totally different situation.
The Syrian Kurds are closer to the US in openness than those in Iraq. Both are good allies. I wished I could see something to unify them right now. So far, it is not there.
Kurds are the best fighters in the region, and consistent ally. They really should have their own state, and they aren’t going to give up on that goal... push them too far, and they may just go from ally to enemy.
your kurdish pals are marxist-lennists.
Freepers should be wary of anyone promoting a particular tribe over there. They only want to drag America into their fight. Those tribes have been throwing rocks at each other for thousands of years. They’ll continue throwing rocks - no matter what We do.
America First
Who advocated fighting for the Kurds?
May want to reread what was written
“Peshmerga sources flatly accuse the Donald Trump administration of withholding support because of opposition to last month’s nonbinding referendum. “
Shocking...people who give you money think you should do what they say?
All middle eastern peoples are bums with their hands out. It isn’t worth an American dollar or life to make sure they can grab oil and some political power. As much as it annoys upper level military officers and neocons, It makes no difference to an American going off to work today.
“And they need and deserve a country of their own.”
And of course, they want someone else to give it to them politically, fund it, and protect it.
choosing sides in sand land is a losing proposition. They just keep throwing rocks at each other.
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