Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — The United States has reported accelerated arms deliveries to Iraq.

The U.S. embassy said Washington was speeding up weapons and ammunition shipments to Iraq amid the Sunni revolt in the Anbar province. The embassy cited the export of thousands of light weapons.

“Since mid-January, more than 11 million rounds of ammunition, thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, M-16s and M-4 rifles, thousands of flares, grenades and other weapons have been delivered to the ISF [Iraqi security forces],” the U.S. embassy said.

In a statement on March 16, the U.S. embassy said the deliveries included 100 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The statement said the Hellfires reflected a critical assessment by Iraqi and U.S. officials.

“Additional deliveries are scheduled in coming weeks, pursuant to the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program with attendant transparency and accountability measures,” the embassy said.

The Hellfires were meant to equip Iraq’s new fleet of AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Officials said Baghdad would lease six Apaches in a project supervised by the U.S. Army.

“The United States looks forward to working closely with Iraqi leaders
and military commanders to determine and address additional critical
equipment needs over the coming weeks.” the embassy said.

The U.S. military’s Central Command has been discussing Iraqi
participation in regional exercises, including Eager Lion, scheduled to take
place in Jordan in May 2014. Centcom has also encouraged U.S. allies,
particularly Jordan and Turkey, to help Iraq’s military amid reports of
Iranian weapons shipments to Baghdad.

“Leveraging this opportunity, we continue to expand security cooperation
activities aimed at strengthening our military-to-military ties,” Centcom
chief Gen. Lloyd Austin said on March 5. “Examples include inviting the
Iraqis to participate in regional exercises, such as Eager Lion, and
facilitating support for Iraq from nations other than Iran, such as Turkey
and Jordan.”

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