The official, speaking to Rudaw on background and refusing to be named or directly quoted, said US officials had told Kurdish President Masoud Barzani’s delegation that Baghdad would be courting problems with Washington if it tried to delay weapons funneled to Erbil through the Iraqi central government.
He said that US weapons deliveries had been stepped up, and that currently the clearance process for arms arriving in Baghdad for the Kurds is about 48 hours. Washington has been given a list of weapons the Peshmerga say they need, he disclosed, adding that the US has avoided direct arms shipments to the Kurds over legal issues.
With Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces acknowledged by the US as their most reliable allies on the ground, there has been a growing rift between US leaders and lawmakers over whether the Kurds should be armed directly.
On Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said that the Pentagon opposes directly arming Kurdish forces and Sunni tribes in Iraq.
Some congressmen and senators have introduced a bill that authorizes direct shipment of weapons for Kurds. A provision of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) asks that 25 percent of the budget to Iraq be directly delivered to Kurdish and Sunni forces.
Asked whether Kurdish independence had been discussed by Barzani’s delegation, which has been in Washington this week, the official confirmed the topic had been brought up, but he gave no details of comments.
He said that US leaders have urged the Kurdish leadership to support Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi and keep Kurdistan as part of Iraq as long as Baghdad continues to cooperate with Erbil.
At receptions by the White House, State Department or Defense Departments, there was tremendous respect for the Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State, or ISIS, since last fall, the delegation member said.
He added that Kurdish-US relations have grown stronger, with contacts now on a daily basis.
According to him, Mosul was among topics discussed with the Americans and the Kurds explained why they needed certain weapons to fight ISIS in its Iraqi stronghold.
He ruled out that that the Kurds would get things like helicopters, but said Erbil had been assured that – with Iraqi coordination – it would receive US support to defeat ISIS. It was agreed that, with US help, a military hospital is to be set up in Kurdistan.
