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European Union ponders arming Kurds


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BRUSSELS, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Ministers of the European Union met to discuss arming Kurdish military troops in Iraq, following decisions by France and the United States to send armaments.

The Kurdish defense force, called the Peshmerga, is engaging Sunni extremists of the Islamic State in northern Iraq's Kurdistan, as an estimated 1.2 million people in the area of combat operations have become refugees.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, after participating in the emergency EU meeting in Brussels -- which were convened by France and attended by about 20 ministers -- said he would travel to Baghdad to meet with Iraq's new government and ascertain what the Kurdish forces need.

Guess this will get Erdogan fuming...

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Seeing how the EU is not a country and doesn't have a foreign policy. It can ponder arming the Kurds all it wants. Its individual countries who will decide to arm the Kurds or not. Not the EU it has no power to agree or disagree.

I believe the French and Americans are already arming the Kurds, On the BBC it saying the UK are thinking of arming the Kurds, Nick Clegg and David Cameron at a Cobra meeting have agreed in principle to arm the Kurds. but still peddling the line of Aid distribution only.

Ideally the situation calls for coordinated and effective approach by a capable force - which means our troops on the ground, but its politically sensitive so, lets arm the Kurds, let them do the fighting and dying in what is a proxy war being funded and equipt by a number of western countries.The Kurdish region of Iraq as always been a haven for the west and the region most likely to succeed, with Iraq becoming fragmented and the sunni rising across the middle east. It will be of strategic importance in the future.

What is the stance by Turkey on the matter? will the arms we supply help the likes of the PKK resurrect their fight against Turkey? in the future. the regional government have always stated their forces are not capable of preventing PKK attacks. so god knows how they'll get on fighting Islamic State.

But If the Kurds play ball, and do a good job in defeating ISIS as a force in the region, how long before we see Kudistan official recognised as a state?

Personally i wouldn't supply weapons. just continue with providing Aid and assistance.

Edited by stevewinn
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Seeing how the EU is not a country and doesn't have a foreign policy. It can ponder arming the Kurds all it wants. Its individual countries who will decide to arm the Kurds or not. Not the EU it has no power to agree or disagree.

I believe the French and Americans are already arming the Kurds, On the BBC it saying the UK are thinking of arming the Kurds, Nick Clegg and David Cameron at a Cobra meeting have agreed in principle to arm the Kurds. but still peddling the line of Aid distribution only.

Ideally the situation calls for coordinated and effective approach by a capable force - which means our troops on the ground, but its politically sensitive so, lets arm the Kurds, let them do the fighting and dying in what is a proxy war being funded and equipt by a number of western countries.The Kurdish region of Iraq as always been a haven for the west and the region most likely to succeed, with Iraq becoming fragmented and the sunni rising across the middle east. It will be of strategic importance in the future.

What is the stance by Turkey on the matter? will the arms we supply help the likes of the PKK resurrect their fight against Turkey? in the future. the regional government have always stated their forces are not capable of preventing PKK attacks. so god knows how they'll get on fighting Islamic State.

But If the Kurds play ball, and do a good job in defeating ISIS as a force in the region, how long before we see Kudistan official recognised as a state?

Personally i wouldn't supply weapons. just continue with providing Aid and assistance.

It's beginning to resemble (imo) the US arming of the locals in Afghanistan when we went in to remove the Taliban. We for some reason chose to use the people on the ground -Northern Alliance I think they called themselves. The EU seems to want to use the Kurds in a similar role. They are stakeholders and will continue in the region after all is said and done. They also have been rational actors for the duration of the conflict there. It seems a winning bet actually.
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Yes, because EVERY other time Western powers have armed "resistance groups" it's gone down so well and NEVER come back to bite the West on the backside.

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Yes, because EVERY other time Western powers have armed "resistance groups" it's gone down so well and NEVER come back to bite the West on the backside.

In the case of the Kurds it is about time that the West keeps true to its word, we cheated them out of sovereignty at least twice so far.

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In the case of the Kurds it is about time that the West keeps true to its word, we cheated them out of sovereignty at least twice so far.

well maybe we left Iraq to early, as seems to be the case - the Iraqi army is not capable of providing security and neither are the Kurds.

The truth of the matter is bombing from the air can only do so much, the situation needs to be combined with boots on the ground by a capable force able to push home the advantage, but its political suicide to put British troops on the ground, so they are slowly conditioning us, we're already being told today by Cameron in a letter in the Telegraph we need to take action to protect us here at home from IS. otherwise IS will spread to the UK. - they said exactly the same about the Taliban the Taliban had no interest in the UK.

Foreign policy by the West has been a complete disaster, ISIS has come about as a direct result of our action in Syria. Assad in Syria warned us we was arming the rebels and terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. but no, we didnt want to listen - we wanted him removed, so we supplied the arms and cash. now its biting us on the ass again. It allowed ISIS to tool up and push into areas such as Mosul where they captured Iraqi Army equipment and the Central Bank in Mosul. were they got their hands on over $400million Dollars.

We done the same in Libya, we armed the rebels and its left North Africa awash with weapons and terrorist groups. its barely reported in the English speaking media, but the French are still fighting in Mali and CAR. against armed and dangerous Islamic terrorists that we supplied arms to in the bid to remove Gaddafi while we bombed from the air.

I think the West is starting to realise just why dictators exist in certain parts of the world. and possibly starting to think it was a mistake to remove, Saddam, Gaddafi, and weaken Assad in Syria. Because the NEWS is people. we wont defeat terrorism with our Western humans rights approach. these brutal terrorist can only be put down by the brutal actions of a dictator.

We arm the Kurds for their survival but be under no illusion we do so, so they can do the killing and dying on our behalf. because our politicians are more concerned about getting re-elected.

Edited by stevewinn
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Yes, because EVERY other time Western powers have armed "resistance groups" it's gone down so well and NEVER come back to bite the West on the backside.

So we do nothing and hope for the best? I'm sure that'll work. The price we are paying now stems from our early withdrawal and failure to leave ANY security forces there.
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