Washington Post - September 7, 2014 - The Islamic State (ISIS or ISL or IS) may have taken anti-tank weapons from Syrian rebels.
Anti-tank weapons that were likely once owned by moderate Syrian rebels have landed in the hands of Islamic State militants, according to a newly released field investigation conducted in both northern Iraq and Syria.
The Islamic State has also captured “significant quantities” of U.S.-manufactured small arms and has employed them on the battlefield, researchers found.
The investigation, led by a small-arms research organization known as Conflict Armament Research, marks a rare attempt to physically document the weapons being used by the Islamic State, the radical group that has expanded its control in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Militants with the group have picked up significant caches of arms after seizing Iraqi and Syrian military installations. The new research suggests they have also amassed arms after overrunning the moderate Syrian rebels being supplied by the United States and other allied nations.
Read more about US Rep call to arm the Kurds instead, the alleged pact between Syrian rebel factions and ISIS, and see maps of the area showing ISIS control.
Read more about US Rep call to arm the Kurds instead, the alleged pact between Syrian rebel factions and ISIS, and see maps of the area showing ISIS control.
To catalog the arms, field researchers embedded with Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria for 10 days toward the end of July and were allowed access to Islamic State weapons that were captured after clashes. Along with the anti-tank weapons, manufactured in the former Yugoslavia, researchers documented a handful of U.S. M16A4 rifles, two Chinese Type 80 machine guns, a Croatian sniper rifle, a 9mm Glock pistol and various Soviet-era small arms.
In one case, U.S.-made weapons were found by the Kurdish forces near Ayn al-Arab, Syria.
The weapons were likely obtained by the Islamic State after it conquered the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, roughly 300 miles away, according to field investigator Shawn Harris.
“They are transporting these weapons in batches, and have a solid organizational approach to moving these weapons around,” Harris said. “They’re operating as professionals.”
Additionally, the serial numbers on a number of the weapons recovered had been welded over, indicating that somewhere along their journey before they reached the Islamic State, a third party attempted to mask the weapons’ “chain of custody,” Harris said.
“It was clean,” Harris said, referring to the precision with which serial numbers were erased. “It indicates some foresight to our type of research.”
Researchers stressed that documenting weapons in the field can be a tenuous business and produces limited findings.
“We can only talk about what we see,” said another researcher, Damien Spleeters.
The most powerful weapons documented were the two 90mm Yugoslav anti-tank rocket launchers, known as “Osas,” which resembled rockets that were transferred to moderate Syrian rebels, reportedly by Saudi Arabia last year. It is purportedly shown in this video in the hands of a Free Syrian Army rebel last year:
The 25-pound rocket launchers have appeared in numerous battlefield videos shot in Syria and Iraq and were believed to be in Islamic State hands. But the new research marks the first time they have been physically documented, Spleeters said.
The US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar funneling weapons to Syrian rebels
In March, the United States authorized the delivery of more sophisticated TOW anti-tank guided missiles to moderate rebels, after long resisting such deliveries out of fears that advanced weaponry would fall into the hands of extremist factions in Syria. Long before then, however, U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Qatar were funneling weaponry to various rebel factions in the conflict.
TOW missiles, which are wire-guided, are not among the weapons the Conflict Armament Research report documented.
“Not a single TOW anti-tank guided missile has fallen into the wrong hands,” said Oubai Shahbandar, a senior adviser to the Syrian Opposition Coalition. “The overwhelming majority of U.S. facilitated military aid is being used by the Free Syrian Army to combat ISIS in northern Syria. There is a thorough accountability process to ensure that allied military aid to Syrian freedom fighters is responsibly used in the field.”
Although captured weapons are of significant value to the Islamic State, their use hinges on a sufficient supply of the correct type of ammunition, noted Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.
For now, Lister said, the group does not seem to be facing any such shortages.
Fighters “have captured five major Syrian military bases in Syria since mid-July,” Lister said. “This will likely keep their momentum going for months to come.”
Source - http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/09/07/report-islamic-state-has-anti-tank-weapons-taken-from-syrian-rebels/
Conflict Armament Research - http://www.conflictarm.com/
Conflict Armament Research - http://www.conflictarm.com/
Texas US Rep. Steve Stockman:
Arm the Kurds, don't train Syrian rebels
Newsmax - September 19, 2014 - Instead of spending any of the $500 million Congress approved this week to train Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), the United States should supply the Kurds with weapons they desperately need, Rep. Steve Stockman told Newsmax on Friday.
"The solution is to allow the Kurds, which are trained already, to have weapons," the Texas Republican said. "They're not happy and they're willing — and they have proven it to the American allies.
"We already have a willing group of people who want to risk their lives and faith," said Stockman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "All they need is the tools, and we don't have to train them. We spend all that money just giving them equipment, that's all we've got to do.
"I don't understand our rationale and it's poor planning now. It's misguided and the money is going to be wasted."
In his Newsmax interview, Stockman said Obama's plan for training the Syrian rebels smacks of when the United States left forces in Iraq to train soldiers after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003."The solution is to allow the Kurds, which are trained already, to have weapons," the Texas Republican said. "They're not happy and they're willing — and they have proven it to the American allies.
"We already have a willing group of people who want to risk their lives and faith," said Stockman, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "All they need is the tools, and we don't have to train them. We spend all that money just giving them equipment, that's all we've got to do.
"I don't understand our rationale and it's poor planning now. It's misguided and the money is going to be wasted."
Many of the weapons left in Baghdad have been stolen by the Islamic State. In addition, many Iraqi soldiers trained by U.S. forces fled in battles with ISIS, helping them to seize such key cities as Fallujah and Mosul.
"We trained Iraqis, who ran away," Stockman said. "Now, if you see the parades by ISIS, you can actually see the equipment. That's our equipment."
He noted that fellow Lone Star State Republican Rep. Ted Poe, who also sits on the Foreign Affairs panel, has pictures of ISIS members marching with "three brand new American Humvees rolling down the road, never been used, and they're in the hands of ISIS.
"We have done a horrible job managing the Iraqi situation and we're going to emulate it again in Syria," he said. "It hasn't proven successful in the past."
He also bucked many GOP calls for American combat troops in Iraq and Syria, which President Obama has emphatically ruled out, because the Kurds are already there.
"The Kurds have boots on the ground and they're begging for weapons. They have more than enough boots on the ground. All they need to do is to get weapons.
"It's not complicated, and they're willing to put their own boots on the ground, and they've been effective if they get the tools to accomplish the job," Stockman said. "But we're not going to do that. We're going to try and reinvent the wheel."
He said Obama's plan for increased airstrikes in Iraq — and in Syria for the first time — plus 475 U.S. soldiers to aid the outmatched Iraqi security forces reflected the president's "naivete on international relations and lack of concern."
"It's what happens when you get your briefings in writing and you go play golf and don't read the briefings. This is a total apathy to world politics and it's dangerous," he said.
Stockman likened the situation to when the United States helped topple the Shah of Iran in 1979 under Democratic President Jimmy Carter, only to be faced with the Ayatollah Khomeini and the subsequent capture of 52 Americans at the embassy in Tehran. They were held for 444 days.
"Jimmy Carter thought the shah was bad, so he replaced the shah with a tyrannical Islamist in Iran," he said. "While the shah may have had his flaws, he at least was a guy who would listen to America.
"The current regime in Iran is quite the opposite and it's persecuting its people way more than the shah ever did.
"So in essence, we are once against helping Iran, who's out to bring death to America and destroy America," Stockman said. "It's ironic, twice, that the greatest ally to Iran has been throughout the years the United States."
The first-term congressman emphasized to Newsmax: "We have to arm the Kurds. We cannot stand by. The only people in the region that are our allies are the Kurds.
"What we do, continually do, is ignore our allies — and we always try and look for another golden goose or somebody else that has a golden key, and that's nonsense.
"We're sowing the seeds of America's destruction, the way we're operating," Stockman said. "A lot of those weapons are going to end up in ISIS' hands."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more - http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ISIS-Kurds-arm-train/2014/09/19/id/595826/
Related:
KURDS - THE WEST DENIES THEM PROPER WEAPONS TO DEFEND THEMSELVES to thwart their independence aspirations - Now thousands of Kurds flee and pour into unfriendly Turkey as refugees
Read more - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/kurds-west-denies-them-proper-weapons.html
The US anti ISIS coalition is an empty shell - Reasons why it will fail.
One of them is its reluctance to arm the Kurds, the only army in the area capable of taking on ISIS. The US, Turkey, Iran, and the Arab countries just don't want an independent Kurdistan.
Read more - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/the-us-coalition-against-isis-is-empty.html
THE WEST POINT REPORT
Klein Online - A newly released research paper from the West Point counterterrorism center cites U.S. weapons being sent to Syrian rebels that now may be in the hands of ISIS.
New West Point paper, released in the August edition of the academy’s CTC Sentinel magazine, is entitled, “ISIL’s Political-Military Power.” relates that field reports show ISIS utilized “recoilless rifles, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons, and, less frequently, guided anti-tank missiles.”
Lost in the report, however, is the alleged U.S. involvement in arming Syrian rebels now reportedly joining ISIS.
The New York Times has been reporting on US weapons falling into jihadis hands since at least 2012.
Lost in the report, however, is the alleged U.S. involvement in arming Syrian rebels now reportedly joining ISIS.
The New York Times has been reporting on US weapons falling into jihadis hands since at least 2012.
Source - http://kleinonline.wnd.com/2014/09/08/how-u-s-weapons-made-it-to-isis-research-paper-addresses-recoilless-rifles-anti-tank-weapons-missiles/
West Point Counterterrorism Center
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/
ISIL's Political Military Power
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CTCSentinel-Vol7Iss8.pdf
The New York Times December 2012 -
West Point Counterterrorism Center
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/
ISIL's Political Military Power
https://www.ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CTCSentinel-Vol7Iss8.pdf
US WEAPONS END UP IN JIHADI HANDS
The New York Times December 2012 -
U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands
See following article on the 2014 $11 BILLION in US weapons sale to Qatar.
Where are those weapons destined for?
And where will they end up eventually?
The US has been accused of being an incendiary force in the Middle East, while it demands Israel's partition in the name of "peace".
The White House selling $11 BILLION worth of weapons to Qatar
In the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported.
The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/africa/weapons-sent-to-libyan-rebels-with-us-approval-fell-into-islamist-hands.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&See following article on the 2014 $11 BILLION in US weapons sale to Qatar.
Where are those weapons destined for?
And where will they end up eventually?
The US has been accused of being an incendiary force in the Middle East, while it demands Israel's partition in the name of "peace".
Qatar, which is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, is accused of funding terrorists.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/qatar-accused-of-financing-isis-and.html
ISIS promptly outflanks Obama’s new strategy, neutralizes Syrian opposition
September 13, 2014 - ISIS is busy neutralizing the Syrian factions that might make common cause with the United States. On Thursday, Breitbart London reported that several dozen leaders of Syrian rebel factions opposed to ISIS, who were gathered at a meeting in northwestern Syria, were killed in a massive explosion on Wednesday.
Huffington Post on Friday evening summarized reports that ISIS has signed a non-aggression deal with a separate group of rebel factions in Syria, nominally so that all of the factions can continue to fight the Assad regime.
According to the Dubai-based Arabic news site Orient News, one of the signatories to the agreement is the Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF), a group that has received U.S. support and has been touted as a likely partner for a U.S. strategy to oppose ISIS in Syria.
Huffington Post on Friday evening summarized reports that ISIS has signed a non-aggression deal with a separate group of rebel factions in Syria, nominally so that all of the factions can continue to fight the Assad regime.
According to the Dubai-based Arabic news site Orient News, one of the signatories to the agreement is the Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF), a group that has received U.S. support and has been touted as a likely partner for a U.S. strategy to oppose ISIS in Syria.
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