Charles Krauthammer says the U.S. needs to shift away from the Iraqi government and start supporting its primary ally against the Islamic State – the Kurds.
Iraq has proven unsuccessful in countering the Islamic State and is “deeply sectarian, divisive, and beholden to Iran,” writes Krauthammer. The Baghdad government shouldn’t be the main facilitator of U.S. military aid.
According to the Fox News commentator, the U.S. should directly supply Kurdish forces who have “the will, the skill, and have demonstrated considerable success.” But current policies mean the Kurds are receiving military supplies at “a trickle” through the goodwill of a Shia-dominated Baghdad.
Krauthammer says America needs to rethink policy in both Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish Peshmerga mainly taking on the Islamic State in the former and the People’s Protection Units or YPG fighting the terror group in the latter.
Kurdish forces have “taken back more than 500 Christian and Kurdish towns from the Islamic State,” according to Krauthammer.
The YPG cut off a major Islamic State supply route by taking control of border city Tel Abyad earlier this week. “The takeover of Tal Abyad marks the biggest setback yet to ISIS, depriving it of a direct route to Raqqa for foreign militants and supplies,” reports The Associated Press.
“If we need to pretend to support the Baghdad government, fine,” writes Krauthammer. “But our actual strategy should be to circumvent it and help our real allies carry the fight.”
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