US blocks attempts by Arab allies to fly heavy weapons directly to Kurds to fight Islamic State
{ “If the Americans and the West are not prepared to do anything serious about defeating Isil, then we will have to find new ways of dealing with the threat,” said a senior Arab government official. “With Isil making ground all the time we simply cannot afford to wait for Washington to wake up to the enormity of the threat we face.”
Millions of pounds-worth of weapons have been bought by a number of European countries to arm the Kurds, but American commanders, who are overseeing all military operations against Isil, are blocking the arms transfers.
One of the core complaints of the Kurds is that the Iraqi army has abandoned so many weapons in the face of Isil attack, the Peshmerga are fighting modern American weaponry with out-of-date Soviet equipment. }
I thought that last bit would be especially hysterical to all of you who have told me that ISIS is the one with out of date Soviet equipment that wouldn't stand a chance against a real army.
{ The US has also infuriated its allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Gulf states, by what they perceive to be a lack of clear purpose and vacillation in how they conduct the bombing campaign. Other members of the coalition say they have identified clear Isil targets but then been blocked by US veto from firing at them.
Western leaders increasingly accept that the “war on Isil” has not gone well, from the moment last year Mr Obama called the group a “JV [junior varsity] team” of jihadists compared with al-Qaeda. }
The article actually says Britain is considering expanding their role in Syria and a lot of countries are looking at directly defying the US opposition to fighting.
Is there anyone here from the UK with thoughts on getting into it with ISIS?
Is there a point where we become obligated to actually fight them?
Have we passed it/if not what would be the move that crosses the line for you?