Exclusive: ISIS's enemies ask the Pentagon for drones

The CIA has already begun to supply Kurdish forces with rudimentary arms, after months of complaints that they were outgunned by ISIS, who raided stocks of American heavy weaponry when they took the city of Mosul. The Daily Beast, however, has obtained a fuller list sent to the Pentagon last week from the Kurdistan Regional Government that asks for much more advanced weapons. That list includes Javelin anti-tank missiles, integrated air defense systems, armored personnel carriers, surveillance drones, and third-generation night vision equipment.

Advertisement

The Pentagon has yet to respond to the Kurdish request. But the list is an indication of the rapid expansion of the multi-pronged American campaign in Iraq. On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced it would be sending 130 more U.S. military advisers to northern Iraq, bringing the total number of troops to 380 in country. American boots on the ground will only be a small piece of the larger effort against ISIS, however…

“The Kurds are generally designating where the ISIS positions are, where they are coming under fire from, but U.S. aircraft are observing them and designating them themselves,” said Andrew Slater, a former special operations officer who has lived in the Kurdistan region for the past two years. “I guarantee they would be getting positive identification of what they are looking at, confirming the proximity of civilians on the battlefield, once there is confidence that this is the right target and there is not going to be a lot of damage, the U.S. aircraft drops the bomb. That is the way we do air support. American eyes from the air observe and identify targets before the bomb is dropped.”

Advertisement

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement