Obama is now selling arms directly to the Kurds. Yahoo/AP

Kurdish and American flags fly in front of Yazidi refugees. Yahoo/AP

Obama has reversed previous policy and has begun selling weapons directly to the Kurds in northern Iraq. Yahoo/AP. Previously the administration would only sell to the Iraqi government directly, who would then send some of those arms to the Kurds. However, the recent surge of ISIS victories against the previously untouched Kurdish Peshmerga fighters has changed the administrations mind. ISIS had captured many U.S. heavy weapons systems in their summer offensive and these new weapons should help the Kurds fight back. Peshmerga fighters have already taken back two towns from ISIS due to help from American airstrikes. The move comes as Prime Minster Nuri al-Maliki's government faces internal strife and a possible coup as the new President, Fouad Massoum, calls for his resignation. 

My Comment:

I first talked about this as a possibility here. I think it's clear that two out of the three original objections are off the table. Turkey and the Iraq government are way more scared off ISIS then they are of an independent Kurdistan. I still worry about these weapons falling into the hands of ISIS, but if we have to sell weapons to anyone in Iraq it probably should be the Peshmerga. They are the best fighting force in the country right now. I heard another article say that they have the bravery to fight but not the bullets. This should change things for them. 

As for Maliki, I predicted this would happen. His political career is already over, he just doesn't realize it. I've been hearing rumors that he has stationed troops in Bagdhad to protect himself. If he does want to go down fighting it would be the worst possible thing to do for himself, Iraq, and the world in general. The last thing Iraq needs is a second civil war while the first one is going on. The incompetence here is just amazing. When your country is burning because a horde of fundamentalist lunatics are killing everyone they see you don't argue about politics. You put that aside and weather the storm. Too bad nobody told Maliki this...