"Russia Sending Arms To The Kurds Battling The Islamic State " Topic

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday his country has been coordinating with the Kurdish forces battling Islamic State militants in Iraq and has been sending arms to them through the central government in Baghdad.

Lavrov said a joint information center has been set up in Baghdad for cooperation between regional countries taking part in the war against ISIS, as the Islamic State is known.

"Military representatives from Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia and the Kurdish government are with this information center which we established in Baghdad," Lavrov told Rudaw at a press conference at the United Nations…"

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Full article here
rudaw.net/english/world/02102015

The Kurds have been waiting forever to receive weapons and arms from the U.S. …. but with Russia now becoming involved the old rules and policies that the U.S. has been operating under have just been thrown out the window. This also explains why the Iraqi Kurdish leader is now strongly urging Russia and the U.S. to coordinate their anti-IS fight …
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… because of this military assistance he now sees Russia as an ally.

Amicalement
Armand

And this is the sort of reason why the West could 'lose' the region.

Certainly they seem to be doing things rather than talking about them….

That is good new, at least for the Kurds.

It's already gone, GM.

I hope this true I cannot think of a people more worthy of support.

Earlier on the French and Germans sent some stuff but not enough. Missed military and Diplomatic opportunity for the USA in my view there.

Can't wait to see Erdogan throw a spanner into those works.

The key info here is that the Russians, like the Americans, are supporting the Kurds through Baghdad.

Which means the support will be as ineffective as that which the US is providing. The central government is corrupt and has no interest in arming the three major Kurdish factions in nothern Iraq.*

Some replies above seem to indicate that not all know about this distinction. The debate in the US currently is whether or not to bypass Baghdad and arm the Kurds directly.

*And there is no "the" Kurds, even in Iraq. There are three factions "sharing" power. The most powerful one has gone all dictatorial and refuses to hold elections as called for under the alliance's constitution. They've been on the verge of their own civil war but a show of force by the largest faction put the other back in line. So the debate now is really about arming ONE faction of the Kurds in northern Iraq and a dictatorial one at that.

There's the Peshmurga and the PKK and the YPK though I tend towards seeing the last two as interchangeable. Have I missed some group out?

Kurdish politics have evolved on the basis of which oppresive power they faced and the degree of oppression hence the differences between the orientation and tactics of Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi Kurds. The aim of all three is clearly Kurdistan as a state. The Syrian Kurds are fighting for their lives holding an election might be too much to ask of them at the moment.

Surely if the Russians want to arm the Syrian Kurds they will do it directly bypassing Baghdad? That would be PKK and YPK the defenders of Kobani if I have the geography right.

Yup, the "Pechmurga" merely describes the fighters. PKK and the like are merely umbrella descriptions. Their internal political/cultural affiliation is a completely different issue.

The Kurds in northern Iraq are divided by clan loyalty just like many other ethnic groups in the region. Clans form alliances and these alliances are fluid and competitive.

The cable news/internet forum/American politics version of Kurdish Iraq is this: they're a unified political entity of good guys that resemble our own founding fathers. They've created a democracy rivaling Israel and have earned our suppprt.

Reality on the ground: They're currently ruled by a dictator, Masoud Barzani, leader of one clan/faction which happens to be the most well armed and powerful. In 2013 he forced the parliament to extend his control for another two years which was counter to the constitution. This year, when time for new elections was approaching, he had his troops parade through town in a major show of force. Kurdish journalists who investigate corruption by his family are jailed or killed.

The area functions a lot like the mafia. The Barzanis are the most powerful Kurdish mafia family in Iraq. They control the government and use its power to enrich themselves. For example, they control the area's oil wealth and oil smuggling operations.

For all practical purposes, if one calls for "arming the Kurds of Iraq", what that functionally means is "arming the Barzani crime family".

I think it's fair to say that very few revolutionary or rebel organisations are run as a democracy.

That's very true Rob. Even during the AWI the "rebel" side engaged in some atrocities against loyalists. And the AWI saw its share of war profiteers among the rebels (didn't the DuPont family get its start that way?).

However, I do believe there's a difference in how the Barzani clan runs its affairs in Iraq and how G. Washington ran things here.

Even more importantly Washington refused to continue in power when beseeched by some Americans. Meanwhile the Barzani clan did the opposite and has continued in power by contravening rules to which they agreed. And they used the threat of violence to do so.

(didn't the DuPont family get its start that way?).The dupont family came to american after the revolution they profited from the war of 1812

the americans should arm the kurds because they are better at killing isis fighters

If the Iraqi national army doesn't keep the arms slated for the kurds, what are they going to give up the next time they face an ISIS attack?

Last time I checked, Russia is not a NATO member and couldn't give a rip about Turkey's NATO status. Russo-Turkish wars have gone on for centuries and any Turkish reservations about arming the Kurds will get all the consideration it truly deserves…none!

That works ! Someone needs to arm the Kurds ! They are the best fighters in the area !

The overall problem with arming Kurds is they fight Isis when they are scared of ISIS. When they get enough of something that they are sure it is enough to keep ISIS at bay, the remainder isn't used to crush ISIS, but to attack Turks. You can be sure Russian coordination has little to do with the fight against ISIS, but is meant as a power game threat against Turkey and NATO.

Considering the Baghdad government is really just a puppet of the Iranian government, you can bet they are reluctant to help the Kurds lest some of the surplus weaponry ends up freeing Iranian Kurds rather than fighting ISIS.

When they get enough of something that they are sure it is enough to keep ISIS at bay, the remainder isn't used to crush ISIS, but to attack Turks.

The PKK has declared a new cease-fire for the Turkish elections. The Turkish government says they won't honor the cease-fire. War! War! War!

I understood that the PKK kept up the old cease-fire until the Suruc bombing, which they blamed on the Turkish government:

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After that bombing, PKK fighters attacked Turkish police and soldiers (recklessly, in my opinion), and the Turkish air force began bombing Kurdistan.

Just the other day a double bombing of a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara killed over 100 people:

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No one has claimed responsibility for either the Suruc or Ankara bombings. Erdogan and Davotoglu denounce terrorism and blame ISIS, or maybe that radical socialist, over there! Behind that tree!

Now, who would have a vested interest in discouraging pro-Kurdish rallies, and mongering open war between Turks and Kurds? No, don't tell me, it's on the tip of my tongue…

And the muddy water just keeps getting muddier …