US Congress Ratifies Plan To Equip Iraq Kurdistan With Air Defense System
The US Congress has passed an amendment proposed by a Republican lawmaker in support of transferring air defense systems to Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
ISWNews Analysis Group – The Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives approved the amendment, which was proposed by Dan Bacon, on June 21 during the vote on the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024”.
According to Bacon, the amendment enjoys strong bipartisan support and requires the US government’s attempt to prepare and implement a program to train and equip the Iraqi Kurdistan forces in the face of missile, rocket and drone attacks from Iran.
In response, Iraqi Member of Parliament Jassim Al-Moussawi stated that providing air defense arms to the Peshmerga forces (Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq) is contrary to international law. The MP noted that any internal party or group in Iraq does not have the right to directly engage in sovereignty matters with other countries without informing and involving the central government. Therefore, the decision to arm the Iraqi Kurdistan region is tantamount to interfering in the country’s internal affairs, he added.
It is worth mentioning that the US has always opposed the Iraqi army’s access to advanced air defense systems to be able to repel foreign attacks.
The agreement between the US and Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which was made without informing the Baghdad government, sparked several reactions, and some Iraqi legislators expressed criticism, stating that Washington’s decision is translated into violating Iraq’s independence and undermining its internal security.
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