December 6, 2015
Beirut: Decades of reckless arms trading (click here) and the poorly regulated flow of weapons into Iraq have contributed to Daesh’s accumulation of a “vast and varied” arsenal which is being used to commit war crimes on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria, an international rights group said Tuesday.
Amnesty International’s report, based on expert analysis of verified videos and images, says most of the extremist group’s weapons, ammunition and equipment were looted from the Iraqi army. It says the weapons were manufactured and designed in more than two dozen countries, including Russia, China, the US and EU states.
Daesh swept across Iraq in the summer of 2014, capturing the second largest city, Mosul, and taking weapons left behind by fleeing Iraqi security forces, including US-supplied arms and military vehicles. The extremist group has also snatched arms from Syrian forces after capturing military bases there.
“The vast and varied weaponry being used by the armed group ...[Daesh] is a textbook case of how reckless arms trading fuels atrocities on a massive scale,” said Amnesty researcher Patrick Wilcken.
“Poor regulation and lack of oversight of the immense arms flows into Iraq going back decades have given Daesh and other armed groups a bonanza of unprecedented access to firepower,” he said....
All this free stuff with an income of $80 million per month.
...Amnesty said the range and scope of the group’s arsenal reflects decades of “irresponsible” arms transfers to Iraq. It also faulted a lack of oversight following the 2003 invasion, when the United State spent billions of dollars arming and training Iraqi security forces. “Lax controls over military stockpiles and endemic corruption by successive Iraqi governments have added to the problem,” it said....
Who needs a weapons contract with the USA Congress, when everything required to kill at will can be looted from weapons in Iraq. It is why Daesh takes over a town. The same goes for the Taliban. They can rob banks, loot arms stores and gather groceries if need be.
...It said most of the conventional weapons being used by Daesh fighters date from the 1970s to the 1990s, when Iraq was engaged in a massive military buildup ahead of and during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war....
It would appear Grover Norquist needs to ask the Syrians to recognize his tax pledge.
...On Monday, analysis firm IHS said that Daesh is pulling in some $80 million (Dh293.6 million) a month, mainly from levies and confiscations, but is struggling financially as strikes hit its oil infrastructure,...
Beirut: Decades of reckless arms trading (click here) and the poorly regulated flow of weapons into Iraq have contributed to Daesh’s accumulation of a “vast and varied” arsenal which is being used to commit war crimes on a massive scale in Iraq and Syria, an international rights group said Tuesday.
Amnesty International’s report, based on expert analysis of verified videos and images, says most of the extremist group’s weapons, ammunition and equipment were looted from the Iraqi army. It says the weapons were manufactured and designed in more than two dozen countries, including Russia, China, the US and EU states.
Daesh swept across Iraq in the summer of 2014, capturing the second largest city, Mosul, and taking weapons left behind by fleeing Iraqi security forces, including US-supplied arms and military vehicles. The extremist group has also snatched arms from Syrian forces after capturing military bases there.
“The vast and varied weaponry being used by the armed group ...[Daesh] is a textbook case of how reckless arms trading fuels atrocities on a massive scale,” said Amnesty researcher Patrick Wilcken.
“Poor regulation and lack of oversight of the immense arms flows into Iraq going back decades have given Daesh and other armed groups a bonanza of unprecedented access to firepower,” he said....
All this free stuff with an income of $80 million per month.
...Amnesty said the range and scope of the group’s arsenal reflects decades of “irresponsible” arms transfers to Iraq. It also faulted a lack of oversight following the 2003 invasion, when the United State spent billions of dollars arming and training Iraqi security forces. “Lax controls over military stockpiles and endemic corruption by successive Iraqi governments have added to the problem,” it said....
Who needs a weapons contract with the USA Congress, when everything required to kill at will can be looted from weapons in Iraq. It is why Daesh takes over a town. The same goes for the Taliban. They can rob banks, loot arms stores and gather groceries if need be.
...It said most of the conventional weapons being used by Daesh fighters date from the 1970s to the 1990s, when Iraq was engaged in a massive military buildup ahead of and during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war....
It would appear Grover Norquist needs to ask the Syrians to recognize his tax pledge.
...On Monday, analysis firm IHS said that Daesh is pulling in some $80 million (Dh293.6 million) a month, mainly from levies and confiscations, but is struggling financially as strikes hit its oil infrastructure,...
