The U.S. recently air-dropped arms and ammo to Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in Kobane, Syria. This despite/because of the Turkish government’s refusal to allow land deliveries of arms to the Syrian Kurds, linked as they are with Turkey’s outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The air-drop riled the Turks to the point where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had to reassure Turkey that it was a one-off. While he was at it, Barack’s billionaire majordomo had to admit to the media that some of those arms will end up in the hands of people who want to see the U.S. destroyed. But it would have been “irresponsible of us, as well as morally very difficult, to turn our back on a community fighting ISIL.” Speaking of irresponsible . . .
you do know that ISIS is using captured U.S. weapons to defeat U.S. weapons we gave to the Iraqi Army? But not tanks, apparently.
Earlier this summer, businessinsider.com revealed that the Islamic terrorists/militants/extremists/caliphate cowboys were deploying Russian T-55 tanks in the field, complete with a 100mm rifled gun and a secondary 7.62-mm machine gun. Around the same time, veteranstoday.org reported that “the armour on five of Iraq’s M1A1 Abrams tanks was penetrated by anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs).”
More specifically, the “indestructible” M1A1’s were falling prey to the Chinese HJ-8s (based on the U.S. BGM-71 TOW missile). That would be the same anti-tank missile the U.S.-supported Free Syrian Army‘s been using against the Syrian Arab Army since June 2013. [See: clip above.] Somehow, strangely, ISIS now has them in stock.
Oops! Sorry. More cohort confusion! Anyway, reuters.com now reports that
The U.S. government on Monday said it had approved the sale to Iraq of $600 million in tank ammunition manufactured by General Dynamics Corp (GD.N), saying it would help the Iraqi government establish an integrated ground defense capability.
Congress now has 30 days to block the sale, although such action is rare since arms deals are usually vetted carefully before a congressional notification.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, or DSCA, notified lawmakers that the State Department had approved the sale of 10,000 M831 120m, high-explosive anti-tank munitions, 10,000 M865 120mm kinetic energy warheads and 26,000 other munitions, as well as logistics services.
None of which will end up in the hands of the bad guys. I mean, ISIS’s bad guys. OK, some of it might, but it would be irresponsible of us, as well as morally very difficult, to turn our back on a country fighting ISIS. Again. Still.
It’s very important to keep those Iraqi tanks fully loaded. That way, when the Iraqi tankers jump out and run away like little girls, the Isis vermin can shoot them in the ass with their own ammo.
Or, we can train and equip actual girls like the ones in Peshmerga, who will then use said ammo to send the Isis vermin straight to hell.
But gee whiz, don’t offend the Turks.
Isn’t that supposed to be “our” own ammo? I swear, you cannot make this stuff up.
Why don’t we just air drop a couple of nukes?
Settle that crap in a millionth of a second.
Oh, man. Don’t get me started.
Nothing quite like a radioactive glass parking lot.
Hah! Reminds me of the suggested solution to Vietnam;
1.) Load all the Vietnamese on ships.
2.) Sail the ships 20 miles offshore.
3.)nuke the country from north to south until perfectly flat, glows in the dark, and on fire.
4.) Sink the ships.
What good is fancy tech if the guy behind it wont stay there when it actually needs to be used?
I seriously feel like the Aloha Snackbar just raped my ears after watching that video, I shouldve known I needed to mute it 🙂
Just saw a story on 700Club-The Miracle of the Kurds. The only Muslim group I support. And they are outcasts in the mideast. They need our help and a separate country from the abomination of Iraq.
I agree entirely. The Kurds have proven time and time again, with their own blood and efforts, to be our true friends & allies in that part of the Middle East. They deserve their own independent nation and will be a strong ally, unlike the Iran-influenced Iraqi army and their cowardly troops who gifted billions of dollars worth of American arms and equipment to a terrorist army. The Iraqi military outnumbered Isis at least 3 to 1 in the area when they rolled in, but barely fired a shot before they shed their weapons and fled.
I gotta be honest. I don’t trust any group over there for long. They all got their own agendas, feuds and ulterior motives going back a thousand years. Today’s “friends” are tomorrow’s disappointment.
Evacuate the Iraqi Christians, or what’s left of them, to France and let the rest sort themselves out. Then have the Brits apologize for coming up with the genius idea of drawing “Iraq” on a map to start with.
I think all muslims in the rest of the world should be returned/sent to the middle east to help determine the future of Allah’s true believers, not allowed to return to civilization until it’s “over over there”. Go to a mosque, free one-way ticket. Mutter anything about that aloha snackbar, free one-way ticket. Then sell them all the 5.56 arms and ammo they want to pay for, nothing larger, nothing to replace a camel. “Go forth and terrorize each other to your heart’s content.”
Those alleged “penetrations” were of tanks that even don’t have the full composite armor package that our Abrams do, which can defeat any warhead currently in the ISIS arsenal. And of 28 tanks engaged by these Chinese knock-off and other Russian missiles, only 5 apparently suffered a total defeat of their armor (RIP you poor bastards).
Besides that, these assholes are getting close enough to the tanks that they are actually able to stick IEDs right on the side of the turret. This is why armor always travels with infantry, because they are always terribly vulnerable to anything that isn’t another armored vehicle. Of course, this is unsurprising since the Iraqi army is also clearly chock full of Lilly-livered cowards.
The M1’s we export are downgraded versions that do not have the same composite armor of our tanks. That being said there are ATGMs out there that can (and have) defeated our armor.
It will be interesting to see what happens if ISIS cross into Turkey. The Turks have the most professional middle eastern army after the Israelis.
The Turks beef with their Kurds and the PKK is they didn’t follow the path of Turkish nationalism which was to reject any other cultural identity other than that of being a Turk.
Right now Turkey should be pragmatic in facing an enemy that demands total subjugation and ignores national boundaries. At least they are letting Kurdish volunteers cross the border into Syria.
We should throw our support behind the Iraqi Kurds and the Peshmerga. At least they are motivated and willing to fight, unlike the Iraqis who not only run away leaving their equipment but now say they don’t want any assistance.
For sale. Surplus Iraqi firearms. Never fired. Dropped once. White flag still attached. Former owner now lying in a ditch with his comrades, each with a single shot to the back of the head.
“Former owner now lying in a ditch with his comrades, each with a single shot to the back of the head, which may or may not still be attached to the original owner.”
There-FIFY.
The Pesh certainly know how to fight and are worthy allies. but the three different groups that make up the Kurdish forces also would like to have an independent homeland–which just so happens would include a large chunk of southeastern Turkey. Which is why Turkey very happily has been standing on the sidelines watching ISIS reduce Kobane, and preventing reinforcement or resupply. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend, kinda. At least for now.) There are also indications that Turkey has been supplying ISIS or other groups out of its hatred for Assad. Quite a political mess.
The enemy of my enemy is the enemy of my enemy. Take advantage with consideration of the long game.
What will happen if ISIS crosses into Turkey? Less than you think. A significant number of Turks support the idea of a religious state; the government that Kamal Ataturk built has been swinging to the fundies for the last decade or so. The Turks will try to sit this one out as long as they can, if only to keep that portion of their population from switching sides.
It will be interesting to see what happens if ISIS cross into Turkey. The Turks have the most professional middle eastern army after the Israelis.
I suspect the Turkish army, if not the government, will welcome ISIS with open arms and ask what they can professionally do to help.
No wonder I can’t find any Tank Ammo at Cabelas…
Is anyone else reminded of “1984” how it seems like one year we’re trying to kill this country then the next we’re trying to arm them? Imagine if we stopped giving them weapons eventually they’d be using sharpened shovels.
I agree. Let them fight each other with shovels instead of our tax funded weapons.
So long as they buy our bullets and not chinese ones, unc sam doesnt care who gets killed
Absolutely no .22LR.
More of your tax money at work with pro Islam Obama giving munitions to both sides in a civil war where all sides hate e war criminals against Civilians caught in the middle.
600 mil. I was wondering where my tax dollars would be going.
Situation is complicated. I agree with supplying the Kurds with ammo for the tanks or whatever. Whatever it takes to stop ISIS/ISIL. However, the situation with Turkey is an issue because of the outlawed groups of Kurds that have been waging a guerilla war against Turkey. But now some of these Kurds are helping the Peshmerga and others to fight ISIS. Can understand a bit of all sides in this. Bottom line is we all need to get rid of ISIS and it is in our best interest, Turkey’s and ALL of the Kurds best interest to do that. If it takes giving some ammo to the Kurds and having to pat Turkey on the back then so be it.
We should be arming the Kurds and posing with them for pictures and getting BFF bracelets, but a bunch of leadership jackasses are still wedded to the idea of a united Iraq, and the Kurds want nothing to do with the clusterf^ck that is most of the country- they have a working state, plenty of oil revenue, little dissent- they’re amazing.
But Washington REJECTED the blue ribbon Baker Commission that came out in the mid 2000s that called for breaking Iraq into three pieces- Sunni, Shiite, Kurdistan.
What do we have now? A shia-ISIS state, an autonomous kurdistan, and the rest of the country (basically shiites).
Huh. But can Washington let things take the natural course they should have a decade ago?
NO. Because they’re the dipshits that got us into a war with them in the first place.
Also, pissing off turkey would suck for our air bases there. But seriously, a lot of it is dumb f^cking hubris. Complain to your congresscritters to get them to push their side- whether D or R- to support Kurdistan at the EXPENSE of Iraq, which is a place that apparently doesn’t work united without a strongman.
I can’t keep my superstitions straight, but isn’t it a SUNNI-ISIS state?
I think all the middle east, at least the Islamic portion, is built on tribal culture and enforced ignorance for the past 1500 years, thus will never operate as a nation of any size without a strongman, and strongman should be clearly defined as a murderous thug with no scruples or morals whatsoever, only in it for his own power and money.
You’re absolutely right, I was writing late and mixed shia with sunni. Should read sunni-ISIS state. Thanks for the challenge, as I clearly screwed that one up!
C’mon TTAG, why don’t you cover stories about how the supplies headed to the Kurds, or elsewhere, keep ending up in the wrong hands? This reeks of agenda reporting.