Leaked emails: Clinton advised Obama to arm Kurds to defeat ISIS

WASHINGTON DC—Leaked documents show that the democratic nominee for the US presidency Hillary Clinton had advised Barack Obama to provide arms support to the Kurdish Peshmerga if the administration wanted to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).

According to a report in the Washington Times, Clinton who had left her post as Secretary of State in 2014 still continued to advise US President Obama on Iraq and Syria.

“If we provide advisers and planners, as well as increased close air support for the peshmerga, these soldiers can defeat ISIL,” Clinton had told the Obama administration, according to leaked documents published by Wikileaks.

“Mrs. Clinton recommended providing the Kurds with heavy weapons such as artillery and armored vehicles to fight the Islamic State,” wrote the Washington Times on Wednesday.

The Obama administration had remained cautious about its agreement with Turkey not to supply heavy weaponry to the Kurds, but “But Mrs. Clinton said fighting the Islamic State should be the priority.”

Obama ordered air strikes against ISIS in August 2014 when the extremist group attacked the Kurdish Peshmerga on many fronts.

Clinton has been vocal in her support for the Kurdish forces in recent weeks especially in her latest presidential debate last Sunday where she said: “I would also consider arming the Kurds. The Kurds have been our best partners in Syria, as well as Iraq. And I know there’s a lot of concern about that in some circles, but I think they should have the equipment they need so that Kurdish and Arab fighters on the ground are the principal way that we take Raqqa after pushing ISIS out of Iraq.”

“There are a lot of very important planning going on, and some of it is to signal to the Sunnis in the area, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, that we all need to be in this. And that takes a lot of planning and preparation.” Clinton said in the debate.