U.S. to send small arms M-16 and M4 with ammunition to help Iraqi Army to fight extremists 1801142

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Defence & Security News - United States
 
 
Saturday, January 18, 2014 10:31 AM
 
U.S. to send small arms M-16 and M4 with ammunition to help Iraqi Army to fight extremists.
The United States Defense Department is preparing small arms M-16 and M-4 with ammunition for shipment to Iraq in response to a request from that country’s prime minister, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said, Friday January 17, 2014.
     
The United States Defense Department is preparing small arms M-16 and M-4 with ammunitions for shipment to Iraq in response to a request from that country’s prime minister, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said, Friday january 17, 2014.
An Iraqi Army soldier examines his M-16 rifle during weapons training with U.S. Soldiers on Camp Taji, Iraq.
     

Nouri al-Maliki asked for the help as extremists have launched devastating attacks throughout the country.

In accordance with the security framework established when U.S. troops departed Iraq in December 2011, discussions about ways to improve the Iraqi military are ongoing, Warren said.

“No one has asked, nor have we offered direct military involvement because of the underlying religious issues and extremist issues,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told NPR this week

In the past year alone, the United States delivered six C-130J aircraft and a Rapid Avenger surface-to-air missile battery. Additionally, a total of 140 M1A1 tanks have been provided between 2010 and 2012.

The situation in Iraq has deteriorated since U.S. troops left the country. Suicide bombing have become more frequent and Iraqi government statistics indicate that about 8,000 Iraqis were killed in 2013.

Fighting in Anbar province intensified at the end of 2013 and the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant -- an al-Qaida affiliated group -- took control of Fallujah and made inroads in Ramadi, the provincial capital.

Dempsey said he was disappointed by the setbacks in Iraq, but also noted he hadn’t yet given up on the country.

“It’s a little premature to declare that this conflict in Ramadi and Fallujah portends the collapse of the state of Iraq or an irreversible setback,” the chairman told NPR’s Tom Bowman.