By Abbas al-Baghdadi
Azzaman, December 21, 2014
The United States has shipped to Iraq outdated helicopter gunships, which are easy for Islamic State militants to shoot down, according to the Defense and Security Commission at the Iraqi parliament.
The commission said “many” of these helicopters gunships have become easy targets to the militants because the U.S. “intentionally sold them to Iraq without protective armor.”
Iraqi army helicopters are playing a crucial role in the fight against Islamic State jihadists who currently control more than one third of Iraq territory.
Majid al-Gharawi, a commission’s member, said the helicopters were vital to ferry supplies to army units and camps besieged by the militants or recover bodies of soldiers killed in action.
But the number of helicopter gunships downed by the militants is increasing because the U.S. “on purpose” did not give Iraq models that could evade the type of anti-aircraft guns and missiles in the possession of the Islamic State, he added.
“The U.S. on purpose did not supply us with armored helicopters as is the case with shipments of such weaponry to other countries,” Gharawi said. “The helicopters can be shot down by anti-aircraft guns and shoulder-held missiles.”
Gharawi did not say how many helicopters have been downed but noted that there was huge pressure on air support in the ongoing war with the Islamic State militants to keep its militants at bay.
He said while the U.S. and allied planes bombing the militants were immune from anti-aircraft fire, Iraqi air force planes have no such immunity as they are outdated.
The commission has urged the government to modernize its air force and introduce latest weaponry that will make it hard for the militants to target its planes.
