ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has denounced a proposal now in the US Senate that would send weapons to the Kurdish Peshmrga for the war against the Islamic State, according to an official's statement to Rudaw. “We will reject the arming of the Peshmerga directly by the US,” Iraq’s Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi, told Rudaw on Thursday. “Arming the Peshmerga, Sunnis and Shiites must be conducted by the central government, not by the US,” he added. The bill proposed by congressmen from the Republican Party contains a measure to arm the Peshmerga and Sunnis, according to a copy of the bill obtained by Rudaw. “What is being debated now is only a suggestion by the Republicans and the US administration has not decided on it yet,” Obeidi said. The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday released an annual Department of Defense bill that authorizes $715 million in aid to Iraqi forces fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS. The bill, which is scheduled to be debated and voted on in Congress on Thursday, carves out at least 25% of that aid for the Peshmerga, the Sunni tribal militias and a yet-to-be-established Iraqi Sunni National Guard.
