January 8, 2015
WHAT'S THE FARSI FOR LEND-LEASE?:
Iran-Backed Militias Are Getting U.S. Weapons (Josh Rogin & Eli Lake, 1/08/15, Bloomberg View)
U.S. weapons intended for Iraq's beleaguered military are winding up in the possession of the country's Shiite militias, according to U.S. lawmakers and senior officials in the Barack Obama administration. These sources say that the Baghdad government, which was granted $1.2 billion in training and equipment aid in the omnibus spending bill passed last month, is turning hardware over to Shiite militias that are heavily influenced by Iran and have been guilty of gross human-rights violations.One senior administration official told us that the U.S. government is aware of this, but is caught in a dilemma. The flawed Iraqi security forces are unable to fight Islamic State without the aid of the militias, who are often trained and sometimes commanded by officers from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2015 3:56 PM
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