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U.S. And Saudi Boosted ISIS Arsenal - Rebels Received ‘Advanced Arms’

Years of research revealed that the U.S. and Saudi boosted ISIS arsenal. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) needs weapons and money to function efficiently.

Feb 22, 2018539 Shares26937 Views
Investigation reveals that the U.S. and Saudi boosted ISIS arsenalby sending weapons to Syrian rebels.
Advanced weapons in the arsenal of Islamic State terrorists in Syria were made in the European Union (EU) and delivered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, a new study says.
The deliveries were intended to prop up “moderate” rebel groups, but resulted in arming the jihadists.

CAR Investigates

The investigation by the London-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) concludes that the weapons supplied to opposition groups:
. . . significantly augmented the quantity and quality of weapons available to [Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)] forces in numbers far beyond those that would have been available to the group through battlefield capture alone.- Conflict Armament Research (CAR)
Political scientist Max Abrahms tweeted on December 14, 2017:
New report: International weapon supplies intended for rebel factions in the Syrian conflict ended up with ISIL ‘significantly augmenting the quantity and quality of weapons in its arsenal.’- Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms)
More than half of the IS weapons recovered in the study were produced by Russia and China in between 1960 and 1989 - prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Former Warsaw Pact states such as Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria - which are now members of the EU - manufactured 30 percent of the weapons and 20 percent of the ammunition recovered by CAR.
These countries produced the majority of the weapons documented in Iraq.
In Syria, most of the weapons recovered from IS were manufactured by Russia, followed by China and the EU states.
The report said:
These findings support widespread assumptions that the group initially captured much of its military materiel from Iraqi and Syrian government forces.- Conflict Armament Research (CAR)
It also added:
This trend is plausibly the result of transfers made during the Cold War and of surplus transfers immediately after its end.- Conflict Armament Research (CAR)

ISIS, EU, The U.S. And Saudi Arabia

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is known to have been armed largely with Soviet-era weapons.
IS militants overran the Iraqi army in Fallujah and other cities following the declaration of the IS caliphate in June, 2014.
As Iraqi soldiers fled, jihadists raided arms depots and bolstered their stockpiles from weapons provided to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war from 1980-1988.
More advanced weapons were purchased from the European Union by the United States and Saudi Arabia and then supplied to Syrian opposition forces.
These groups were then either defeated by or collaborated with IS forces battling to overthrow the Syrian government.
The U.S. supply of these weapons to Syrian opposition groups is considered an “unauthorized transfer” and violation of its agreements with the EU.
The entire process, from manufacturing of the weapon in the EU to transfer to IS forces in Iraq, “occurred within two months of the weapon’s dispatch from the factory,” the report adds.

IS - Weapons and Funding

The study was conducted over a three-and-a-half-year period and funded by the European Union.
Titled Weapons of the Islamic State, the report claims to be “unquestionably the most comprehensive, verified study of the group’s weapons to date.”
The report concludes that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia “indirectly allowed IS to obtain substantial quantities of anti-armor ammunition” including anti-tank guided weapons (ATGW) and rockets with tandem warheads.
The study added:
These systems continue to pose a significant threat to the coalition of troops arrayed against IS forces.- Conflict Armament Research (CAR)
The study also provided further evidence to the fueling of the Syrian conflict by the U.S. and its allies.
The U.S. supplied weapons to Syrian opposition groups vetted as so-called “moderate rebels” under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).
While the FSA was portrayed in Western media as a popular movement defending Syrian citizens, a July 2017 study by the pro-opposition Century Foundation called it a “weapons farm for larger Islamist and jihadist factions, including Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate.”
Saudi Arabia, for its part, has funded jihadist groups Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham.

Triumph Over IS Forces

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory against IS forces on December 10.
Al-Abadi told a conference in Baghdad:
Our forces are in complete control of the Iraqi-Syrian border and I therefore announce the end of the war against ISIS.- Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
The announcement came six days after the liberation of the IS stronghold of Mosul.
Syrian government forces announced the liberation of the last IS stronghold of Abu Kamal in November.
A statement from the army’s general command said:
The liberation of Abu Kamal city is very important because it signals the general fall of the terrorist Daesh organization’s project in the region.- Syrian army’s general command
It is now clear that the U.S. and Saudi boosted ISIS arsenal, reinforcing its operations in the Middle East.
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