WASHINGTON-- US House of Representative passed controversial 2016 defense budget on Friday that includes direct military assistance to Kurds and Iraqi Sunni forces despite opposition from the Obama administration.
According to the defense bill, of US$715 million allocated to the Iraqi government $179 million has to go directly to the Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni tribal forces battling the Islamic State (ISIS).
The Obama administration has opposed the measure, saying that bypassing Baghdad will undermine Iraq’s territorial integrity.
The House approved a $612 billion defense policy bill for next year. Most Democrats voted against the bill while eight Republican lawmakers dropped their support for the bill.
US president Barack Obama has threatened to veto the bill.
The Senate Armed Services Committee also passed its 2016 defense bill yesterday.
According to the Hill news website, Republican Senator John McCain and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee had said that he “expected a Senate floor amendment on providing arms directly to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq, which many members of Congress support,” without elaborating.
Many Iraqi politicians, among them Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr have expressed opposition to the bill, describing it as violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and a deliberate attempt to divide the country.
Kurdish leaders have been lobbying the US Congress and the Obama administration for direct supply of arms, claiming that Baghdad is holding back their share of American-supplied arms.
