The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation Wednesday that would authorize, but not require, the Obama administration to provide heavy weapons directly to Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq, bypassing the central government in Baghdad.
The bipartisan measure was approved by voice vote, after both Democrats and Republicans spoke in favor of the bill.
“We need to make sure the Kurds have everything they need to defend themselves and keep the pressure on [the Islamic State],” said Eliot Engel of New York, the panel’s ranking Democrat. “This just makes sense. The Kurds are making progress and we need to keep the winds at their backs.”
Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., noted that Kurdish forces in both Iraq and Syria have been the most effective ground forces in the fight against the Islamic State, and are poised to cut the road between the group’s headquarters in the Syrian city of Raqqa and its stronghold in Mosul, Iraq, dividing its forces. However, they are equipped with antiquated, light weapons and are outgunned by the extremists, he said.
The legislation would authorize direct supplies of heavy weapons, including armor, heavy artillery and anti-tank missiles, to the autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq for three years. In response to concerns about Iraqi unity, the bill states that the arms supplies are not a precursor to recognition of Kurdish aspirations for independence.
“The goal obviously is not Kurdish independence, and we make that clear in the legislation,” Royce said.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the House Armed Services Committee last week that the United States already is sending light weapons directly to Kurdish forces, with only customs clearance by Baghdad. But administration officials have resisted calls by many lawmakers for greater direct support of the peshmerga, especially including heavy weapons.
The annual defense policy bill enacted earlier this month requires the Pentagon to report by the end of March on the Shiite-dominated Baghdad government’s progress in building a more inclusive force against the Islamic State that includes Kurds and Sunni Arabs. It also authorizes the administration to arm those groups directly if the report determines that insufficient progress has been made.
