The House Armed Forces Committee on Wednesday approved a draft law proposed by Dan Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, that allows providing air defenses to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Bacon told Middle East Eye that the plan has strong bipartisan advocacy and obligates the government to launch a program to train and equip the Peshmerga forces, as well as the Iraqi forces, against missile, drone, and rocket attacks from Iran.
According to Janathan Lord, an analyst of West Asian affairs at the Center for a New American Security, the Peshmerga forces are currently getting $20 million monthly budget from the Pentagon, and equipping them with air defenses may limit the supply of weapons, as Washington’s other allies are also seeking weapons. According to the plan proposed by the House Armed Services Committee, $866 billion in the fiscal year 2024 budget would be for US military spending. This plan was approved by the Armed Forces Committee with 58 affirmative votes against 1 negative vote, and in the next stage should get finalization of the Congress.
The new American plan for Iraq’s Kurdistan region comes as last month the Americans confirmed dispatch of HIMARS air defense systems to the Kurdish-controlled regions of northern Syria. Delivery of similar systems to Iraq’s Kurdistan can follow specific aims, especially at a time Washington officials have repeatedly warned that in the years to come, the US will lose its air superiority against the Iran-led Axis of Resistance.
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