Kurds In Iraq And Syria U S Partners Against The Islamic State

Author : Congressional Research Service
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2017-01-17
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1542600294

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Kurds in Iraq and Syria by Congressional Research Service Pdf

Since 2014, the United States and members of a coalition it leads have partnered with a politically diverse set of Kurdish groups to combat the Islamic State organization (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL or by the Arabic acronym Da'esh). For background information on these groups and their relationships in the region, see CRS In Focus IF10350, The Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran, by Jim Zanotti and Bolko J. Skorupski. The capabilities of various Kurdish ground forces have advanced some U.S. objectives in connection with ongoing anti-IS operations. At the same time, as these operations increasingly focus on predominantly Sunni Arab areas such as Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqah, Syria, U.S. officials are encouraging Kurdish forces to support and empower the combat and post-conflict administration profile of non-Kurdish forces that may have greater ethnic and political legitimacy with local populations. U.S. officials also seek to avoid having U.S. cooperation with Kurds significantly disrupt U.S. relations with other partners, including the Iraqi central government and NATO ally Turkey in light of those partners' respective concerns and operations on the ground in Iraq and northern Syria. Legal authorities enacted by Congress and the President permit the Administration to provide some arms and some Iraq/Syria anti-IS-related funding to Kurdish groups under certain conditions. In April 2016, the Defense Department announced that it would provide more than $400 million in assistance to pay and otherwise sustain Iraqi Kurdish fighters as part of an ongoing partnership that delivers U.S. assistance to Iraqi Kurds with the consent of the Iraqi national government. Some Members of Congress proposed legislation in the 114th Congress that would have extended or expanded U.S. cooperation with Kurdish groups under certain conditions. This report examines: the roles played by Iraqi Kurdish groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and by the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD)/People's Protection Units (YPG) in U.S. and coalition efforts to defeat the Islamic State; interactions Iraqi and Syrian Kurds have with other actors; benefits and challenges the Kurdish role presents for U.S. interests in the region; the outlook for military operations (such as against Mosul in Iraq and Raqqah in Syria) and political outcomes; humanitarian concerns regarding displaced persons in Kurdish-controlled areas, and human rights concerns regarding Kurdish forces' treatment of civilians in areas they capture; specific U.S. policy questions regarding current and future U.S.-Kurdish cooperation; and the broader trajectory of the U.S.-Kurdish partnership. U.S. military trainers and advisors have been based in KRG-controlled areas (along with other areas in Iraq) since 2014. The U.S. government has acknowledged that these advisors have periodically engaged in direct action missions in both Iraq and Syria. Since late 2015, U.S. officials have announced additional "advise and assist" deployments in Iraq and Syria.

Author : Jim Zanotti,Christopher M. Blanchard,Carla E. Humud,Rhoda Margesson,Congressional Research Congressional Research Service
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 31 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-02
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1690058994

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Kurds in Iraq and Syria: U. S. Partners Against the Islamic State by Jim Zanotti,Christopher M. Blanchard,Carla E. Humud,Rhoda Margesson,Congressional Research Congressional Research Service Pdf

Since 2014, the United States and members of a coalition it leads have partnered with a politically diverse set of Kurdish groups to combat the Islamic State organization (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL or by the Arabic acronym Da'esh). For background information on these groups and their relationships in the region, see CRS In Focus IF10350, The Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran, by Jim Zanotti and Bolko J. Skorupski.The capabilities of various Kurdish ground forces have advanced some U.S. objectives in connection with ongoing anti-IS operations. At the same time, as these operations increasingly focus on predominantly Sunni Arab areas such as Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqah, Syria, U.S. officials are encouraging Kurdish forces to support and empower the combat and post-conflict administration profile of non-Kurdish forces that may have greater ethnic and political legitimacy with local populations. U.S. officials also seek to avoid having U.S. cooperation with Kurds significantly disrupt U.S. relations with other partners, including the Iraqi central government and NATO ally Turkey in light of those partners' respective concerns and operations on the ground in Iraq and northern Syria.Legal authorities enacted by Congress and the President permit the Administration to provide some arms and some Iraq/Syria anti-IS-related funding to Kurdish groups under certain conditions. In April 2016, the Defense Department announced that it would provide more than $400 million in assistance to pay and otherwise sustain Iraqi Kurdish fighters as part of an ongoing partnership that delivers U.S. assistance to Iraqi Kurds with the consent of the Iraqi national government. Some Members of Congress proposed legislation in the 114th Congress that would have extended or expanded U.S. cooperation with Kurdish groups under certain conditions.

Author : Michael Knights,Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2021-10-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780755643042

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Accidental Allies by Michael Knights,Wladimir van Wilgenburg Pdf

The U.S.-led effort to fight the Islamic State in northeastern Syria since 2014 has been as controversial and poorly understood as it has been significant. Advocates of fighting “by, with and through” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) view the campaign as a near-ideal case study of a cost-effective U.S. military intervention that should be duplicated in the future. Critics of the campaign say that the U.S. allied itself with a terrorist group and endangered its ties with Turkey, a long-stranding NATO partner; losing sight of strategic priorities in order to win tactical victories at low cost. This book combines general research with 50 interviews gathered in Syria with Kurdish, Arab and Christian SDF officers, and 50 interviews with U.S. and French officials and military officers with on-the-ground involvement in the war. It provides an unprecedented window into how the war was really prosecuted, in the eyes of the participants at all levels, uniquely looking not only at how U.S. soldiers view their partner forces, but how the local partners view them in return. This is a unique and essential insight into US strategy in Syria and beyond.

Author : Spyridon Plakoudas,Wojciech Michnik
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 135 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2023-03-15
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781793624871

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Proxy Warfare on the Cheap by Spyridon Plakoudas,Wojciech Michnik Pdf

This book examines how the USA decided, reluctantly at first, to use the Syrian Kurds as a cheap proxy warrior against ISIS and how this partnership evolved, in the end, into a not-so-cheap investment owing to its unforeseen geopolitical implications.

Author : Mike Giglio
Publisher : Hachette UK
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2019-10-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781541742345

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Shatter the Nations by Mike Giglio Pdf

Unflinching dispatches of an embedded war reporter covering ISIS and the unlikely alliance of forces who came together to defeat it. The battle to defeat ISIS was an unremittingly brutal and dystopian struggle, a multi-sided war of gritty local commandos and militias. Mike Giglio takes readers to the heart of this shifting, uncertain conflict, capturing the essence of a modern war. At its peak, ISIS controlled a self-styled "caliphate" the size of Great Britain, with a population cast into servitude that numbered in the millions. Its territory spread across Iraq and Syria as its influence stretched throughout the wider world. Giglio tells the story of the rise of the caliphate and the ramshackle coalition--aided by secretive Western troops and American airstrikes--that was assembled to break it down village by village, district by district. The story moves from the smugglers, traffickers, and jihadis working on the ISIS side to the victims of its zealous persecution and the local soldiers who died by the thousands to defeat it. Amid the battlefield drama, culminating in a climactic showdown in Mosul, is a dazzlingly human portrait of the destructive power of extremism, and of the tenacity and astonishing courage required to defeat it.

Author : Congressional Research Congressional Research Service
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2015-01-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1507869975

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Iraq by Congressional Research Congressional Research Service Pdf

Since the 2011 U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, sectarian and ethnic divisions have reemerged to fuel a major challenge to Iraq's stability and to Iraq's non-Muslim minority communities. Many of Iraq's Sunni Arabs appear willing to support even radical Sunni Islamist insurgents if doing so will reduce Shiite political domination. Iraq's Kurds have been separately embroiled in political and territorial disputes with Baghdad, although those differences have been muted as the Kurds and the central government jointly address the threat from the Sunni Islamist extremist group called the Islamic State. Building on successes in Syria and the political rifts in Iraq, Islamic State fighters took control of several cities in Anbar Province in early 2014 and captured Mosul and several other mostly Sunni cities in June 2014. The crisis has had some potentially serious consequences for Iraq's long-term future. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) remains weak after nearly a third of its divisions collapsed in the face of the Islamic State offensive in June 2014. The collapse enabled the Kurds, who run an autonmous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to seize control of the long-coveted city of Kirkuk and its crucial oil fields. And, the crisis has caused Shiite militia forces to revive; they are politically aligned not only with dominant Shiite factions in Iraq but also with Iran. These forces have helped the ISF defend Baghdad and recapture some areas from the Islamic State, but the militias have also reportedly committed human rights abuses against many Sunnis and reinforced Sunni resentment of the Iraqi government. The Islamic State's gains in Iraq prompted a U.S. response that includes direct U.S. military action as well as efforts to promote political inclusiveness in Iraq. The political component of U.S. strategy has shown some success in the replacement of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with another Prime Minister, Haydar al-Abbadi. Although both men are from the Shiite Islamist Da'wa Party, Abbadi appears more willing to compromise with Sunni interests than was Maliki. Abbadi has acknowledged publicly that Sunni security forces will need to be empowered to secure Sunni areas that might be freed from Islamic State control. Abbadi also has reached a seemingly crucial agreement with the Iraqi Kurds over Kurdish oil exports. The military component of U.S. strategy has begun to show some success in slowing Islamic State momentum and reversing a few of its 2014 gains in Iraq. President Obama states that he has ruled out reintroducing U.S. combat troops to Iraq (or Syria), but the Administration is deploying up to 3,100 military personnel to assess, advise, and train the ISF and protect American personnel and facilities. These personnel are to be joined by about 1,500 coalition partner advisers and trainers for the ISF. The United States and several NATO partners are also striking Islamic State positions in Iraq to facilitate combat efforts by the ISF and the KRG's peshmerga forces. The United States is also proceeding with pre-existing Foreign Military Sales of combat aircraft, as well as with new sales of tanks and armored vehicles to replenish the equipment lost in the course of the ISF partial collapse.

Author : Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Publisher : Swift Press
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-05-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781800750463

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THE DAUGHTERS OF KOBANI by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon Pdf

The extraordinary story of the women who took on the Islamic State and won In 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women's rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard of: Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swathes of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States. In the process, these women would spread their own political vision, determined to make women's equality a reality by fighting - house by house, street by street, city by city - the men who bought and sold women. Based on years of on-the-ground reporting, The Daughters of Kobani is the unforgettable story of the women of the Kurdish militia that improbably became part of the world's best hope for stopping ISIS in Syria. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, bestselling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon introduces us to the women fighting on the front lines, determined to not only extinguish the terror of ISIS but also prove that women could lead in war and must enjoy equal rights come the peace. Rigorously reported and powerfully told, The Daughters of Kobani shines a light on a group of women intent on not only defeating the Islamic State on the battlefield but also changing women's lives in their corner of the Middle East and beyond.

Author : Ed Nash,Alaric Searle
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 49 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2021-09-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781472847591

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Kurdish Armour Against ISIS by Ed Nash,Alaric Searle Pdf

One of the most remarkable mechanized campaigns of recent years pitted the brutal and heavily armed jihadis of Islamic State against an improvised force belonging to the Kurdish YPG (later the SDF). While some Kurdish vehicles were originally from Syrian Army stocks or captured from ISIS, many others were extraordinary homemade AFVs based on truck or digger mechanicals, or duskas, the Kurds' version of the technical. Before US air power was sent to Syria, these were the Kurds' most powerful and mobile weapons. Co-written by a British volunteer who fought with the Kurds and an academic expert on armoured warfare, this study explains how the Kurds built and used their AFVs in the war against 'Daesh', and identifies as far as possible which vehicles took part in major battles, such as Kobane, Manbij and Raqqa. With detailed new artwork depicting the Kurds' range of armour and many previously unpublished photos, this is an original and fascinating look at modern improvised mechanized warfare.

Author : Michael Gunter
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2019-07-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000302851

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The Kurds In Turkey by Michael Gunter Pdf

This book analyzes the Kurdish problem in Turkey from the point of view of the Turkish authorities, as well as from the perspective of disaffected Kurds living in that state and abroad. It also analyzes the political instability and terrorism rampant in Turkey during the late 1970s.

Author : Fawaz A. Gerges
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2021-11-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691211923

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ISIS by Fawaz A. Gerges Pdf

An authoritative introduction to ISIS—now expanded and revised to bring events up to the present The Islamic State stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. However, its most striking and distinctive characteristic was its capacity to build governing institutions and a theologically grounded national identity. What explains the rise of ISIS and the caliphate, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world’s leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling explanation of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS. This new edition brings the story of ISIS to the present, covering key events—from the military defeat of its territorial state to the death of its leader al-Baghdadi—and analyzing how the ongoing Syrian, Iraqi, and Saudi-Iranian conflict could lead to ISIS’s revival.

Author : Kenneth Katzman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : National security
ISBN : OCLC:904016561

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The "Islamic State" Crisis and U.S. Policy by Kenneth Katzman Pdf

Author : Congressional Research Service
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 46 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2017-07-20
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1973754622

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Armed Conflict in Syria by Congressional Research Service Pdf

The Syrian civil war, now in its seventh year, continues to present new challenges for U.S. policymakers. Following a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 4, 2017, and subsequent U.S. strikes against Syrian military infrastructure and pro-regime forces, Members of Congress have called on the President to consult with Congress about Syria strategy. Other Members have questioned the President's authority to launch strikes against Syria in the absence of specific prior authorization from Congress. In the past, some in Congress have expressed concern about the international and domestic authorizations for such strikes, their potential unintended consequences, and the possibility of undesirable or unavoidable escalation. Since taking office in January 2017, President Trump has stated his intention to "destroy" the Syria- and Iraq-based insurgent terrorist group known as the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL, ISIS, or the Arabic acronym Da'esh), and the President has ordered actions to "accelerate" U.S. military efforts against the group in both countries. In late March, senior U.S. officials signaled that the United States would prioritize the fight against the Islamic State and said that Syrian President Bashar al Asad's future would be determined by the Syrian people. Nevertheless, following the April 4 attack, President Trump and senior members of his Administration have spoken more critically of Asad's leadership, and it remains to be seen whether the United States will more directly seek to compel Asad's departure from power while pursuing the ongoing campaign against the Islamic State. Since late 2015, Asad and his government have leveraged military, financial, and diplomatic support from Russia and Iran to improve and consolidate their position relative to the range of antigovernment insurgents arrayed against them. These insurgents include members of the Islamic State, Islamist and secular fighters, and Al Qaeda-linked networks. While Islamic State forces have lost territory to the Syrian government, to Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups, and to U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters since early 2016, they remain capable and dangerous. The IS "capital" at Raqqah has been isolated, but large areas of central and eastern Syria remain under the group's control. The presence and activities of Russian military forces and Iranian personnel in Syria create complications for U.S. officials and military planners, and raise the prospect of inadvertent confrontation with possible regional or global implications. Since March 2011, the conflict has driven more than 5 million Syrians into neighboring countries as refugees (out of a total prewar population of more than 22 million). More than 6.3 million other Syrians are internally displaced and are among more than 13.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the Syria crisis (which includes assistance to neighboring countries hosting refugees), and since FY2012 has allocated more than $6.5 billion to meet humanitarian needs. In addition, the United States has allocated more than $500 million to date for bilateral assistance programs in Syria, including the provision of nonlethal equipment to select opposition groups. President Trump has requested $191.5 million in FY2018 funding for such assistance and $500 million in FY2018 defense funds to train and equip anti-IS forces in Syria. U.S. officials and Members of Congress continue to debate how best to pursue U.S. regional security and counterterrorism goals in Syria without inadvertently strengthening U.S. adversaries or alienating U.S. partners. The Trump Administration and Members of the 115th Congress-like their predecessors-face challenges inherent to the simultaneous pursuit of U.S. nonproliferation, counterterrorism, civilian protection, and stabilization goals in a complex, evolving conflict.

Author : World Bank World Bank
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2015-04-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464805493

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The Kurdistan Region of Iraq by World Bank World Bank Pdf

The Kurdistan region of Iraq is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as a result of the influx of Syrian refugees which began in 2012 and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 2014. The region's population increased by 28 percent over a short period, placing strains on the local economy, host community, and access to public services. This book provides national and regional policy makers with a technical assessment of the impact and stabilization costs needed for 2015 associated with the influx of refugees and IDPs. The stabilization cost for 2015 is estimated at US$1.4 billion in additional spending above and beyond the region's budget. This estimate could significantly increase should the crisis persist longer. The study highlights how prices and unemployment have increased, and refugees and IDPs entering the labor market are pushing wages down. A surge in violence led to supply side shocks. The ISIS crisis has had a significant effect on trade of goods and services. Transportation routes were disrupted. Foreign direct investment flows have declined and operations of foreign enterprises have been adversely affected. Disruption of public investment projects have had a negative impact on the economy. Based on the World Bank estimates, economic growth contracted by 5 percentage points in the region and the poverty rate more than doubled, rising from 3.5 percent to 8.1 percent. While the government has been responsive to addressing the needs of the displaced population up until now, more resources are needed to avert this humanitarian crisis and address the needs of the displaced population in the medium- and long-term. The report is an outcome of close collaboration between a wide spectrum of World Bank experts and regional government institutions and international partners.

Author : Hannah Kiel
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 307 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2024-05-02
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781803920733

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Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors by Hannah Kiel Pdf

This insightful book analyses the issue of norm erosion in international law by examining arms transfers to non-state actors. Balancing empirical research with legal theory, the author dissects recent case studies, tracing individual changes in norms against a background of systemic transformation.

Author : United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 88 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Iraq
ISBN : STANFORD:36105050691034

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United States Strategy to Defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations Pdf