WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States Lukman Faily is warning Washington about the danger of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment, which would give direct military aid to Kurdish Peshmerga forces to fight against Islamic State terrorists, a US media outlet reported on Friday.
“The Senate amendment, in its current form, would pit elements of our society against one another and would create a dangerous precedent that would undermine Iraq unity and sovereignty at this critical time,” Faily told Politico in a statement on Friday.
The legislation would give temporary, emergency authority to US President Barack Obama to directly arm the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters without the weapons first going through the Iraqi central government in Baghdad, as required under current US law.
The Peshmerga has played a leading role in the international fight against the Islamic State. By late May, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) forces had recaptured up to 90 percent of the territory seized by ISIL in August 2014, according to reports from Peshmerga commanders.
The US House of Representatives introduced similar legislation in March, calling on the US president to directly provide training and equipment to the Kurdish forces.
