Decades of ‘Reckless Arms Trading’ Now Fuelling IS

In fact, according to a 44-page report from Amnesty International, a “large portion” of the Islamic State’s weaponry was originally given to Iraqi military from the U.S.as well as Russian Federation and the former Soviet Union.

“Iraq has become an emblematic case of the grave dangers of arms accumulation and proliferation and the irresponsible trade in weapons and munitions”, Amnesty International said in a summary of the report “Taking Stock: the Arming of Islamic State”.

“From 2003 to 2007, the United States of America and other coalition members transferred more than 1 million infantry weapons and pistols with millions of rounds of ammunition to the Iraqi armed forces, despite the fact that the army was poorly structured, corrupt and ill-disciplined”, Amnesty reported.

The U.S. Government will also continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces and fighting ISIS on the ground, Mr. Obama said. “And it won’t require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil”.

A new Amnesty International (AI) report reveals that the Middle-East-based terrorist organisation, Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, better known as ISIS or IS, has built a substantial arsenal, including US-made weapons, obtained from the Iraqi army and Syrian opposition groups.

At least 34 different countries supplied Iraq with weapons; 28 of those states supplied Iran at the same time. In addition to a large amounts of AK rifles, ISIS fighters have US military M16’s and Chinese, German and Belgian rifles. Reportedly, approximately 200 soldiers will be involved, joining an additional 50 special forces troops that the Pentagon in October announced will be operating in Syria. Roger Cabiness told CNN that the USA closely monitors equipment provided to partners in order “to prevent and detect illegal transfers to third parties, in order to protect American technology, and, where relevant, to ensure partner compliance with requirements placed on all recipients of US defense articles”.

“This must include assessing if military and security units are capable of effectively controlling stockpiles and abide by global human rights and humanitarian standards”, the researcher added.

Documenting specific abuses, the human rights group said ISIS’ military campaign has “relentlessly targeted civilians with small arms, artillery fire and huge quantities of improvised explosive devices” across Syria and Iraq.

He said even if Daesh is uprooted, other armed groups will take their place. We also know that ISIS is aggressively pursuing a more robust chemical weapons capability and, to that end, has recruited scientists and other technical experts.

Amnesty’s report blamed corruption in Iraq’s government and a lack of strict control over its stockpiles for aiding Islamic State in carrying out multiple mass weapons seizures.