U.S. Admits Role in Arming Iranian-Backed Jihadists in Iraq

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More of the poison fruit of Obama’s feckless and treasonous aiding of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is yet another program that should have been stopped immediately when President Trump took office. Instead, it continues. There are far too many Obama administration holdovers and sympathizers still holding positions of power in the Trump administration, starting with NSA H.R. McMaster.

Trump campaigned about taking a tough stance with Iran and its proxies. That means ending this arming of the IRGC, immediately.

“U.S. Admits Possible Role in Arming Iranian-Backed Militants in Iraq,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, November 13, 2017:

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U.S. officials acknowledged Iranian-backed forces in Iraq could be using American-made arms, an admission that comes amid growing concern on Capitol Hill the U.S. government is quietly working with militia fighters in Iraq who are directly tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

U.S. lawmakers and military insiders are concerned by what they described as the American government’s continued arming and training of Iranian-backed fighters in Iraq, an ongoing policy that multiple sources described to the Washington Free Beacon as one of the U.S.’s chief foreign policy failures in the region.

Top lawmakers and others have begun to present evidence showing that the State Department continues to provide widespread support for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, a program that first begun under the Obama administration.

This has helped solidify Iran’s presence in key Iraqi territories and appears to directly conflict with the Trump administration’s newly outlined push to combat the Islamic Republic’s regional military efforts, which have included targeting U.S. forces in Syria and other locations.

Multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon both on and off the record accused the State Department of making “common cause” with the IRGC, which they say has benefited from ongoing American efforts to arm and train Iraqi militia groups, many of which have direct ties to Iran.

These sources pointed to the continued presence of senior Obama administration officials in government as one of the primary drivers of this ongoing policy.

Senior Trump administration officials acknowledged they have seen evidence that some Iraqi forces on its blacklist are using American arms.

“We have seen reports that some U.S.-origin military equipment is being operated by Iraqi militia units that are not the approved end-users,” said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “We urge the Government of Iraq to expeditiously return this equipment to the full control of the Iraqi Army.”

However, the official said the United States has strict policies in place to prevent Iranian-tied forces and other terrorist actors from benefitting from its military programs in Iraq.

“All recipients of U.S. security assistance are fully vetted and subject to end-use requirements,” the official said. “The United States has strict standards to avoid providing security assistance to designated terrorist organizations, units with close ties to Iran, or units under suspicion of committing gross violations of human rights.”

Leaders on Capitol Hill are currently pushing the Trump State Department to come clean about possible interactions with Iranian-tied forces in Iraq.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is one of several lawmakers who recently disclosed direct evidence of Iranian-backed fighters using American-made tanks and other military equipment in Iraq.

DeSantis told the Washington Free Beacon Congress is increasing pressure on the State Department to disclose currently withheld information on the relationship between the U.S. military and Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq.

“The State Department should not be making common cause with the IRGC, [Iranian commander] Qassem Soleimeni, the [Iranian] Quds Force or Shia militias,” DeSantis said, explaining that these groups have long worked to thwart U.S. operations in the region.

“These groups were responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq during our operations there last decade,” DeSantis said. “Congress needs to get the facts about the relationship between our own State Department and these nefarious actors.”

Intelligence information circling around Capitol Hill and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon shows that multiple IRGC proxy groups have been operating under the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MOI), which coordinates and doles out U.S. funding and equipment to various militia groups.

Iranian-tied entities believed to be benefiting from U.S. programs include Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia military group supported by Iran; and the Badr forces, an Iranian backed military group. At least four other Iranian-supported military groups also are said to have benefited from U.S. training programs, according to the intelligence information.

Photographs and other open-source intelligence information appear to show that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is aware that Iran is cashing in on U.S. programs.

Al-Abadi’s government is believed, in part, to allocate funds to these Iranian forces via Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, a designated terrorist who leads Kata’ib Hezbollah, who then doles out U.S. funds to various Iranian-backed militia groups.

Kata’ib Hezbollah has been identified as receiving American funding, armor, and artillery via these programs.

Other photographic evidence in the possession of lawmakers appears to show various Iranian-backed militia fighters in Iraq using American-made M1A1 Abrams tanks, which require direct training from the United States to operate.

The State Department and Trump administration officials are said to be aware of this information, as well as other evidence, but stand accused of downplaying it so as not to interfere with the fight against ISIS in Iraq, which these Iranian militias have helped wage.

Bill Roggio, a veteran military analyst and editor of the Long War Journal, which chronicles U.S. military efforts, said the drive to defeat ISIS has pushed senior U.S. military and diplomatic officials to ignore Iran’s growing role in the Iraq.

“The U.S. military and government has been so desperate to defeat the Islamic State that it has consciously ignored that its allies in Iraq and Syria include Shia militias backed by Iran and the PKK [a Kurdish rebel group], which is designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organization,” Roggio said….

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Suresh
Suresh
6 years ago

Politicians, bureaucrats and media are on payroll of Muslim Lobbyists to further their agenda.

Like Dems selling out American interests for thousands thrown their way by iranian Lobbyists to support nuke deal http://tinyurl.com/mcake4d

so present state of affairs should not surprise those who the facts

Mahou Shoujo
Mahou Shoujo
6 years ago

muslims killing muslims, what’s not to like?

garry pollackD
garry pollack
6 years ago
Reply to  Mahou Shoujo

please, can we maintain a more sanctimonious air!

Daniel FX Dravot
Daniel FX Dravot
6 years ago
Reply to  Mahou Shoujo

Have said it before. I will defend Islam to the last drop of Arab blood.

Amanda
Amanda
6 years ago

Google is paying 97$ per hour,with weekly payouts.You can also avail this.
On tuesday I got a great New Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $11752 this last four weeks..with-out any doubt it’s the most-comfortable job I have ever done .. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
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Mr Paul Middleton
Mr Paul Middleton
6 years ago
Reply to  Amanda

Vote this down folks, so that it disappears.

Drifter12
Drifter12
6 years ago

Hmm? Just like when Obama and McCain had the CIA arm and train the “good rebels”, in Syria, who promptly, rebranded themselves as ISIS and began murdering their neighbors with new American tanks and weapons. When this association first became known, just before the 2012 elections, Obama was forced to switch sides and fight on the side of Bashar Assad and his new ally, Vladimir Putin. All of this fooled no one and treason, well past Obama’s red line in the sand, was allowed to go unchallenged…a very shameful moment in America’s history.

aebe
aebe
6 years ago

Call your Congressman , support my nuke you by Tuesday Policy !

Validate your 2nd Amendment Rights…. Carry

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
6 years ago

That’s a bit strange, I thought the U.S. and Iran had actually clashed before in Iraq, and Iran had in fact supported groups fighting against American soldiers. Weird how times change.

h3ochris
h3ochris
6 years ago

Obama has armed Al Qaida and ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and who knows where else. Obama is a traitor and should be hanged publicly for it.

garry pollackD
garry pollack
6 years ago
Reply to  h3ochris

but if Trump is continuing these policies, how do we reconcile that???

h3ochris
h3ochris
6 years ago
Reply to  garry pollack

Trump is not intentionally arming our enemies. Unintentionally, anytime our forces vacate a hot zone we leave behind weapons and material for the government forces that always seem to fall into the hands of extremists. Perhaps if we simply keep our troops out of there to begin with , that wont happen.

joanofark06
joanofark06
6 years ago
Reply to  garry pollack

Exactly, it’s been a year now, since Trump has been in office, and as usual, there’s always an excuse for what he’s NOT doing, HASN’T DONE, etc etc. It’s mostly the excuse, it’s Obama’s fault. Wonder how long it’ll take for people to finally look at all the bad things happening in Trump’s term, and blame it on him. For some reason, they just don’t want to face it. I guess it’ll be way after he’s gone, before they blame him. Me, I’ve got a whole list of stuff, his admin has been doing, and it’s not pretty. Guess I’ll save it, till his term is up, then maybe, people will listen. Or will it be too late, by then?

garry pollackD
garry pollack
6 years ago

welcome to 1984!

IzlamIsTyranny
IzlamIsTyranny
6 years ago

The US is GIVING Abrams tanks to the f’ing muslums? Who does the government of the US purport to represent anymore? The free world? Or the totalitarian, apartheid muslum world?

Mr Paul Middleton
Mr Paul Middleton
6 years ago

I trust America! General Hayden (Head of CIA 99-05, Director NSA), one of the most outspoken and hard-headed Generals ever (even if he is now an ex-general). His interview with Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera from over a year ago, is in retrospect very telling (apologies for [verbatim] length):

General: “The Syrian revolution has been hijacked by Islamic extremists, by al-Qaeda, they have become the controlling element in the opposition and if left unchecked what we could end up with is a pre-9/11 Afghanistan-like state comprised of Anbar Province and the Eastern Syrian Desert. Errors were made by the West two or three years ago. We should have put a Western thumb on the scale to effect the evolution of the conflict. The West did not intervene when intervention carried less of a tariff. To put our thumb on the scale now would require remarkable energy to change the battlefield balance in any way.”

Jazeera: “Opposition leaders think there is a cynical calculus at play whereby the opposition is supported just enough to stay alive, but not enough to be able to fight the regime seriously.”

General: “I agree that that’s the effect of current actions collectively, including those of the USA. That’s a very dark statement, that’s not the intent, but that’s the result.”

Jazeera: “As far as Arabs are concerned the cynicism goes far deeper than that, this US administration would like to see Al-Qaeda and the Syrian regime going after each other, why not? They’re both unfriendly to the US, let them kill each other and let the Syrians fall between the chairs.”

General: “To have Sunni extremists battling Shia extremists in a fight to the death in a way that consumes their energies so they’re not focused on other potential enemies in a very practical real-politic sort of way is probably not the worst of all possible worlds.”

Jazeera: “So you think that Assad fighting Al-Qaeda serves America’s interests? It seems to me as far as you’re concerned and this president, it’s safer with Assad (in power) than with any other alternative?”

General: “Looking at the range of possible outcomes I must reluctantly conclude that Assad winning is not the worst one. We’ve seen the results of what happens when regimes collapse in Iraq and Libya – very bad. The outcome may be the Syrian government without Assad, that may be the American position.”

Jazeera: “You and this administration think that the person morally and politically responsible for the death of tens of thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands of people should remain in power because that’s in America’s best interests?”

General: “Of the range of possible outcomes I see this situation is so dark, so bad, so much a part of our inaction months and years before that, I reluctantly have to say that I can think of worse outcomes than this regime staying in control. Unless the West, the outside powers, are willing to invest massively in this project and create a third way, what we have here is a rump Syrian successor state, comprised probably of Anbar Province in Iraq and the Eastern Syrian desert with Al-Qaeda militants, or mainly Al-Qaeda firmly in control in an area that’s at the crossroads of civilisation.”

Jazeera: “Is it practical that the manufacturer of terrorism in that region region remains in power? I see it as a pyromaniac strategy, you put out the fire with more fire?”

General: “I freely admit that one cannot consider Iraq and Syria as separate, and I’m beginning to think that the lines drawn after WW2 by Mr Sykes and Mr Picot don’t matter the way they used to, and at the end of this those lines may go away and we may see new political alignments in the Middle East. We had an Intelligence estimate in 2006 which said that Iraq, from Al-Qaeda’s point of view, had become the main front in the war against the far enemy, the USA. That report said then that Iraq had become the cause celebre for global jihadism. In Iraq in 2008, Al-Qaeda were facing strategic defeat, but what happened after 2008 in Iraq was the decision that zero troops would remain.”

Jazeera: “So you think that the problem was not that America got in, but that America got out?”

General: “I think that if there had been a continued troop presence in Iraq, not massive numbers, 7, 8, 12,000 – the right kind of people, equipment, training, logistics, counter-terrorism, intelligence – mainly intelligence – that the Iraqis would have been far more able to prevent the resurgence of Al-Qaeda. However one should not make the error that America controls who constitutes the governing authority in Iraq.”

Jazeera: “Throughout the region, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, you see Al-Qaeda proliferating everywhere. Do you think there are different types of Al-Qaeda, ones hostile to the US and ones not so hostile to the US?”

General: “Several levels. In terms of the immediate war, the war we’re always really good at, actual combat, taking care of those people who are convinced that they already want to come and do us harm, we’ve actually been remarkably successful.”

Jazeera: “Be that as it may, the US failed, right? It didn’t deter Al-Qaeda from proliferating and as you hinted, a lot of groups now think it’s panache to be called Al-Qaeda, it’s becoming fashionable.”

General: “Well, you certainly love the brand out there for some reason. There were certain tasks that we needed to do, some we’ve done well, others we’ve not done well, some we’ve not done at all. What we’ve done well is to take care of that immediate band trying to kill us. In American military thought we divide any conflict into what we call ‘the close fight’ and ‘the deep fight.’ In this war the close fight is taking care of the people who already want to come and kill us. The deep fight consists of the production rate of those who may want to come and kill us in 3, 5, or maybe 7 years. We’ve been very successful in the close fight but not nearly as successful in the deep fight, that’s a much more complicated struggle and we’ve not done nearly as much as we should have. There’s more work to do.”

Jazeera: “The end result is the proliferation of Al-Qaeda?”

General: “The end result is no externally-based attack on the US by Al-Qaeda since 9/11, check – that’s really important. Al-Qaeda has proliferated. The Economist magazine back in October stated something I believe to be true. Al-Qaeda is weaker, much weaker than it was on 9/11 but its also true that Al-Qaeda controls much more territory and has more adherents than at any other time in history.”

Jazeera: “Can we agree that the main victims of Al-Qaeda may not be America and the West, and the main victims over the last twelve years have been Arabs and Muslims?”

General: “Absolutely true.”

Jazeera: “So its okay if Al-Qaeda…”

General: “No it’s not okay, but the close fight, Americans can do a large proportion of that on our own, but the deep fight – its not totally something that we can’t influence, but we’re not the prime mover there, that requires other things to happen.”

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