France Urges Europe to Arm Kurds to Battle Islamic State
Source: Bloomberg
By Gregory Viscusi and Jillian Ward Aug 12, 2014 11:13 AM ET
Momentum grew for an emergency meeting of European Union foreign ministers to discuss arming Kurdish soldiers as France and the U.K. backed deliveries of weapons to stem the advance of Islamist militants.
“There is an evident imbalance between this horrible group which has sophisticated weapons and the Kurdish Peshmergas, who are courageous but don’t have these weapons,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France Info radio today. “It’s very nice that we in western countries are in a summer vacation period, but people are dying and we have to come back from vacation.”
The U.K. and Italy have indicated they would support arms deliveries to the Kurdistan regional government, while Germany is considering supplying equipment such as protective vests and medical aid. All have ruled out joining U.S. air strikes against Islamic State in northern Iraq, while expressing support for the U.S. operations.
“Western governments have burnt their hands seriously in Iraq over the past decade,” Gareth Stansfield, director of Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank, said by phone. “It doesn’t mean they won’t do anything, but that they will take their time to make sure what they do is reasoned, informed and accurate.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-12/france-urges-europe-to-arm-kurds-to-battle-islamic-state.html
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