Discussion for article #226194
The Kurds are suffering from a lack of financial resources to buy ammo and arms to fight the ISIS militants.
In a bitter irony, the extremists used American armored vehicles and weapons they had seized from the Iraqi military to defeat Kurdish fighters who were blocked from acquiring just such equipment, U.S. and Kurdish officials said.
The Kurds, many of whom have long sought an independent state, say the central government in Baghdad has stopped providing the northern region with its share of the national budget. And without the ability to sell their own oil, Kurdish officials argue, they cannot protect themselves from violent militants or provide government resources.
The Kurds are currently waging a legal fight with the Iraqi government in a Texas court to unload a million barrels of crude from the Tanker, United Kalavrvta.
The United Kalavrvta is one of five tankers that have been loaded with Kurdish crude oil at the Turkish port of Ceyhan since late May. One delivered its cargo in Israel, with rumors of deep discounts. Another, the United Emblem, which like the United Kalavrvta belongs to a Greek firm called Marine Management Services, is currently in the Strait of Singapore; Reuters reported that it transferred its cargo at sea to an unidentified tanker last week. Still another tanker, the Kamari, left Ceyhan on Friday and was heading for Egypt’s Port Said.
Do you have a link?
Yes.
Weapons link:
Tanker link:
Iraq sends plane loaded with ammo to the Kurds: