Security Assistance; and Logistics - Federation of American Scientists

The Kurdish Minister of Interior (KMoI) asserted that KMoI forces did not receive theirfair share of the equipment, to include arms and ammunition, which had been provided tothe Government of Iraq MoI through the U.S.-funded ISFF. When questioned about thisalleged lack of equitable support, officials at the central government MoI reportedlyresponded that the KMoI should use the 17 percent of national revenues allocated it byIraqi law to purchase the equipment and supplies they needed, including small arms andammunition. To overcome their chronic shortage of arms and ammunition againstoperational need, the Minister stated that the KMoI bought weapons and ammunition, toinclude Glock pistols, on the Baghdad black market. The Minister stated that theynonetheless established accountability for such weapons on their property books, byserial number.Officials from the Irbil Police College stated that they needed a minimum of 60 rounds of9 mm ammunition to qualify their cadets, vice the 15 rounds per cadet available at thetime of our visit. (Sixty qualification rounds per cadet are still considered insufficient byU.S. standards.) They also reported that all of their weapons were accounted for by serialnumber, a fact verified by an inspection of their arms room and property books. TheCommandant of the College stated that the support he did receive came exclusively fromthe KMoI. To his knowledge, there had been no support from the Iraqi centralgovernment MoI.Officials from the Sulaymaniyah Police College stated that, out of necessity, theypurchased ammunition on the black market for both Glock pistols and AK-47 rifles. Still,their cadets fired only 10 rounds each with the Glock and about 50 rounds with the AK-47 during training and qualification.Officials from the Sulaymaniyah Police Academy stated that trainees fired 30 roundswith the pistol and 40 rounds with the AK-47. U.S. trainers thought the trainees shouldfire a minimum of 120 rounds with the pistol and 100 rounds with the AK-47 to qualify.Officials from the Sulaymaniyah Provincial Directorate of Police stated they did not haveenough AK-47 rifles for their policemen. They also stated that they purchased AK-47ammunition on the black market and that this was still insufficient for meeting theiroperational needs.Although we were not able to independently verify these reports of shortages of arms andammunition and lack of support by the MoI, we did discuss the situation with MNSTC-Iofficials. They were aware of these reports as the MNSTC-I Director of Interior Affairshad visited the KMoI about ten days prior to our visit and the Director had promised tolook into the situation.MNSTC-I noted that the methodology used to distribute Iraqi equipment, including armsand ammunition, purchased with Iraqi funds was a decision subject to the authority of thecentral GoI. The “17 percent” distribution of national wealth argument was also asovereign political decision. That observation, however, dealt with distribution of U.S.-funded equipment, not Iraqi-funded equipment.102