US failed to sustain aid to Peshmerga: report

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON

A U.S. military report has found American support for Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq fell short despite the group’s success in fighting Daesh.

The study released late Tuesday said although the U.S. planned to provide weaponry, protective equipment, vehicle and communication gear to 4,000 or two light peshmerga brigades from the 1.6 billion Iraqi Train and Equip Fund established in 2014, U.S. officials “did not have a comprehensive written plan to sustain the two brigade equipment sets.

“U.S. units lacked visibility of U.S.‑transported equipment (both U.S.-purchased and Coalition-donated) within the U.S.-managed supply chain to be supplied to the KSF [Kurdish Security Forces], which could lead to duplicate acquisition as well as potential loss of accountability,” the study said.

The report by the Defense Department Inspector General on the assessment of U.S. and coalition support to the Kurdish regional government’s military force recommended U.S. Central Command Commander review and make sure the initial plan works and Kurdish brigades are regularly provided with the equipment they need.

“We request Commander, U.S. Central Command to provide comments in response to this final report by January 20, 2017,” the report asks.

The report indicated that the peshmerga forces have proved their success against Daesh since the militant group waged a war in the summer of 2014.