Library Library
Search

Kurdipedia is the largest multilingual sources for Kurdish information!


Search Options





Advanced Search      Keyboard


Search
Advanced Search
Library
Kurdish names
Chronology of events
Sources
History
User Favorites
Activities
Search Help?
Publication
Video
Classifications
Random item!
Send
Send Article
Send Image
Survey
Your feedback
Contact
What kind of information do we need!
Standards
Terms of Use
Item Quality
Tools
About
Kurdipedia Archivists
Articles about us!
Add Kurdipedia to your website
Add / Delete Email
Visitors statistics
Item statistics
Fonts Converter
Calendars Converter
Spell Check
Languages and dialects of the pages
Keyboard
Handy links
Kurdipedia extension for Google Chrome
Cookies
Languages
کوردیی ناوەڕاست
کرمانجی
Kurmancî
هەورامی
Zazakî
English
Français
Deutsch
عربي
فارسی
Türkçe
Nederlands
Svenska
Español
Italiano
עברית
Pусский
Fins
Norsk
日本人
中国的
Հայերեն
Ελληνική
لەکی
Azərbaycanca
My account
Sign In
Membership!
Forgot your password!
Search Send Tools Languages My account
Advanced Search
Library
Kurdish names
Chronology of events
Sources
History
User Favorites
Activities
Search Help?
Publication
Video
Classifications
Random item!
Send Article
Send Image
Survey
Your feedback
Contact
What kind of information do we need!
Standards
Terms of Use
Item Quality
About
Kurdipedia Archivists
Articles about us!
Add Kurdipedia to your website
Add / Delete Email
Visitors statistics
Item statistics
Fonts Converter
Calendars Converter
Spell Check
Languages and dialects of the pages
Keyboard
Handy links
Kurdipedia extension for Google Chrome
Cookies
کوردیی ناوەڕاست
کرمانجی
Kurmancî
هەورامی
Zazakî
English
Français
Deutsch
عربي
فارسی
Türkçe
Nederlands
Svenska
Español
Italiano
עברית
Pусский
Fins
Norsk
日本人
中国的
Հայերեն
Ελληνική
لەکی
Azərbaycanca
Sign In
Membership!
Forgot your password!
        
 kurdipedia.org 2008 - 2024
 About
 Random item!
 Terms of Use
 Kurdipedia Archivists
 Your feedback
 User Favorites
 Chronology of events
 Activities - Kurdipedia
 Help
New Item
Biography
Shirwan Husen Hamad
02-12-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Building license report at the level of Iraqi Kurdistan Region 2012
29-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Statistics of construction licence in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2013-2018
28-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Trial Monitoring Program Report
24-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Internal trade Survey in private sector in Iraq and Kurdistan Region 2012-2013
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment survey in Kurdistan Region 2013
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism establishments survey in Kurdistan region 2016
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2020
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2019
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2021
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Statistics
Articles
  528,960
Images
  112,611
Books
  20,657
Related files
  107,527
Video
  1,609
Language
کوردیی ناوەڕاست - Central Kurdish 
290,802
Kurmancî - Upper Kurdish (Latin) 
90,941
هەورامی - Kurdish Hawrami 
66,328
عربي - Arabic 
32,198
کرمانجی - Upper Kurdish (Arami) 
19,929
فارسی - Farsi 
11,429
English - English 
7,798
Türkçe - Turkish 
3,688
Deutsch - German 
1,808
لوڕی - Kurdish Luri 
1,690
Pусский - Russian 
1,140
Français - French 
349
Nederlands - Dutch 
131
Zazakî - Kurdish Zazaki 
91
Svenska - Swedish 
72
Polski - Polish 
56
Español - Spanish 
55
Italiano - Italian 
52
Հայերեն - Armenian 
52
لەکی - Kurdish Laki 
37
Azərbaycanca - Azerbaijani 
27
日本人 - Japanese 
21
中国的 - Chinese 
20
Norsk - Norwegian 
18
Ελληνική - Greek 
16
עברית - Hebrew 
16
Fins - Finnish 
12
Português - Portuguese 
10
Тоҷикӣ - Tajik 
9
Ozbek - Uzbek 
7
Esperanto - Esperanto 
7
Catalana - Catalana 
6
Čeština - Czech 
5
ქართველი - Georgian 
5
Srpski - Serbian 
4
Kiswahili سَوَاحِلي -  
3
Hrvatski - Croatian 
3
балгарская - Bulgarian 
2
हिन्दी - Hindi 
2
Lietuvių - Lithuanian 
2
қазақ - Kazakh 
1
Cebuano - Cebuano 
1
ترکمانی - Turkman (Arami Script) 
1
Group
English
Biography 
3,156
Articles 
2,055
Library 
2,001
Documents 
206
Image and Description 
77
Martyrs 
64
Publications 
49
Archaeological places 
44
Parties & Organizations 
36
Maps 
26
Genocide 
21
Clan - the tribe - the sect 
18
Artworks 
17
Places 
9
Statistics and Surveys 
5
Miscellaneous 
4
Video 
2
Offices 
2
Poem 
2
Womens Issues 
1
Environment of Kurdistan 
1
Dates & Events 
1
Quotes 
1
Repository
MP3 
328
PDF 
32,293
MP4 
2,694
IMG 
206,909
∑   Total 
242,224
Content search
Biography
Jemal Nebez
Biography
Hasret Gültekin
Archaeological places
Hassoun Caves
Articles
The Role of Kurdish Identit...
Biography
Lisa Calan
Defending Israel, but not Kurdistan?
Kurdipedia is not a court, it prepares data for research and fact finding.
Group: Articles | Articles language: English - English
Share
Facebook0
Twitter0
Telegram0
LinkedIn0
WhatsApp0
Viber0
SMS0
Facebook Messenger0
E-Mail0
Copy Link0
Ranking item
Excellent
Very good
Average
Poor
Bad
Add to my favorites
Write your comment about this item!
Items history
Metadata
RSS
Search in Google for images related to the selected item!
Search in Google for selected item!
کوردیی ناوەڕاست - Central Kurdish0
Kurmancî - Upper Kurdish (Latin)0
عربي - Arabic0
فارسی - Farsi0
Türkçe - Turkish0
עברית - Hebrew0
Deutsch - German0
Español - Spanish0
Français - French0
Italiano - Italian0
Nederlands - Dutch0
Svenska - Swedish0
Ελληνική - Greek0
Azərbaycanca - Azerbaijani0
Catalana - Catalana0
Čeština - Czech0
Esperanto - Esperanto0
Fins - Finnish0
Hrvatski - Croatian0
Lietuvių - Lithuanian0
Norsk - Norwegian0
Ozbek - Uzbek0
Polski - Polish0
Português - Portuguese0
Pусский - Russian0
Srpski - Serbian0
балгарская - Bulgarian0
қазақ - Kazakh0
Тоҷикӣ - Tajik0
Հայերեն - Armenian0
हिन्दी - Hindi0
ქართველი - Georgian0
中国的 - Chinese0
日本人 - Japanese0

Defending Israel, but not Kurdistan?

Defending Israel, but not Kurdistan?
Wladimir van Wilgenburg

When U.S. Patriots shot down an Iranian missile over Erbil on 15-04-2024, Kurds wondered why such defenses weren’t activated when they were attacked

Late in the night of April 13, Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, was shaken by the sound of a Patriot missile battery shooting down an Iranian ballistic missile flying toward Israel. “One of those missiles was a ballistic missile that was taken down in the vicinity of Erbil that was en route toward Israel,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed in a press briefing.

This raised questions among many Iraqi Kurds about why the United States had not prevented an Iranian missile attack against Erbil last January 15, which killed four civilians in a villa, under the false pretext that it was a Mossad base. A businessman, Peshraw Dizayee, and his 11-year-old daughter Zhina were among the victims, and some wondered whether the Kurds had become expendable allies of the Americans.

Mohammed Salih, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, told me that the U.S. defense of Israel had raised questions among many Kurds as to “why the U.S. military has not so far used these advanced air defense systems in defense of Kurdistan, even when the Kurdish region has been attacked due* to the presence of U.S. troops there… Many in Kurdistan and the broader region will be watching to see if the U.S. military would use the same air defense system next time when Iran or its proxies launch an attack on Iraqi Kurdistan.”

Iran has attacked the Kurdistan Region several times previously, including one attack on September 8, 2018, against two Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, and another, on March 13, 2022, against the home of businessman Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji. However, in 2018 and 2022 there were no Patriot air defense systems deployed in Erbil. Moreover, between October 2023 and January 2024, during the ongoing Gaza war, Iran-backed Iraqi factions targeted U.S. bases in the Kurdistan region, including the base at Erbil International Airport and one in Harir, with suicide drones and missile strikes. The U.S. evacuated the Harir base after the increase in attacks. Since February 4, Iran-backed factions have ceased hitting U.S. military forces, apart from one attack on April 21 against U.S. forces in Syria.

In February, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, told NBC News that the Iraqi Kurds did not have the capability to defend themselves against drone and missile attacks, and asked for more assistance from the United States. On April 15, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani discussed securing sites in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, from aerial threats. The U.S. National Defense Authorization Act of 2024, signed by President Joe Biden last December, includes a provision to equip Iraqi and Kurdish military forces with air defense systems. In March, the Pentagon said that it was waiting for the 2024 budget to be passed by the U.S. Congress to implement the decision. Yet the interception of the Iranian missile fired at Israel shows that the United States can potentially safeguard Erbil without equipping the Kurds with air defenses. It’s also unlikely that Baghdad would approve giving such advanced U.S. air defense systems to the Kurds, at a time when it seeks to limit Kurdish autonomy.

A Patriot missile battery became operational in Erbil in April 2020, a few months after the U.S. assassinated Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. However, the system was later removed, most likely in June 2021, when the Biden administration withdrew Patriot batteries from the Middle East, including Iraq. However, the Patriots were returned to Erbil after the outbreak of the Gaza war last October, when the Biden administration sent additional Patriot systems to the Middle East in anticipation of attacks against U.S. forces.

Aaron Stein, the president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told me that if the “U.S. had warning and had made the decision to deploy a missile battery, yes, it could have [prevented the attack on Erbil]… The Patriot is a high demand, low density asset, and so moving them around the world is not all that easy. It takes planning and a specific threat. It’s really dependent on a lot of things. So, it’s hard to say.” Each battery reportedly costs 1.1 billion.

Following the assault on Erbil last January, The Pentagon’s Pat Ryder, in response to inquiries why U.S. forces had not intercepted some of the missiles targeting civilian areas in Erbil, stated that “none of these strikes were targeting U.S. personnel or U.S. facilities.”

Retired U.S. army Col. Myles Caggins, a former spokesman for the U.S.-led Coalition in Iraq, and a senior fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, seemed to agree. He told me, “​The U.S. military’s priority is protecting military sites for the anti-[Islamic State] mission and other sites deemed as critical for national security objectives. Unfortunately, a businessman’s house would not have been a priority,”

Michael DiMino, a fellow at Defense Priorities and a former CIA military analyst, said it was difficult to compare the Iranian missile salvos from January and April. “For one, you’re talking about different trajectories and response times for a ballistic missile attack from Iran into Israel, compared to one from Iran into northern Iraq. There are other factors to consider too, such as the lead-up to both. In my view, there was much more telegraphing and diplomatic back-channeling prior to Iran’s attack on Israel in April than before its attack on Erbil in January.”

Indeed, Iran made it clear after senior officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force were killed in Damascus, that it would retaliate. The Iranians also said they warned the United States before their response to Israel. There was no such forewarning of the January attack, nor for that matter of an Iranian missile attack against Baluchi militant groups inside Pakistan a day later.

However, if Patriot batteries defend U.S. forces in the Middle East, then why were they employed to prevent an attack against Israel? An anonymous source in the U.S.-led coalition told me that “technically speaking, the way the [Patriot] system works is that it identifies an object that enters its area, and that’s when it fires. On the night of Iran’s attack on Israel, one missile was approaching the [Erbil Airbase] area, prompting the system to respond, but the second missile impacted outside [the area]. However, during the last attack when Mr. Peshraw was killed, all missiles followed a different route.”

Dana Stroul, a former U.S. deputy assistant defense secretary for the Middle East, added, “If a missile is on a trajectory to target U.S. forces or infrastructure, then the Patriot battery may be used to intercept the attack. If a missile attack is targeting other areas that are not near U.S. bases, then the Patriot will not engage the threat.”

These explanations may be true, but beg the question: Israel was protected by a regional network of Patriot air defenses and other means on April 15, so was the battery in Iraqi Kurdistan part of that network, or was its shooting down of an Iranian missile merely a coincidence, because the missile had entered its zone of operation? Some in Kurdistan may suspect it was the former, perhaps believing that if all U.S. allies are equal, some may be more equal than others.

* The word “during” was changed to “due,” as the original word altered the meaning of the sentence.[1]

Kurdipedia is not responsible for the content of this item. We recorded it for archival purposes.
This item has been viewed 107 times
Write your comment about this item!
HashTag
Sources
[1] Website | English | carnegieendowment.org
Linked items: 3
Group: Articles
Articles language: English
Publication date: 24-04-2024 (0 Year)
Cities: Erbil
Content category: Politic
Content category: Articles & Interviews
Country - Province: South Kurdistan
Language - Dialect: English
Publication Type: Born-digital
Technical Metadata
Item Quality: 94%
94%
Added by ( Hazhar Kamala ) on 03-09-2024
This article has been reviewed and released by ( Ziryan Serchinari ) on 04-09-2024
This item recently updated by ( Hazhar Kamala ) on: 03-09-2024
Title
This item according to Kurdipedia's Standards is not finalized yet!
This item has been viewed 107 times
Attached files - Version
Type Version Editor Name
Photo file 1.0.1192 KB 03-09-2024 Hazhar KamalaH.K.
Kurdipedia is the largest multilingual sources for Kurdish information!
Articles
Trade exchange (import) in Kurdistan region 2016-2017
Archaeological places
The tomb of the historian Marduk Kurdistani
Biography
Hafiz Akdemir
Library
Trial Monitoring Program Report
Image and Description
The Kurdish Quarter, which is located at the bottom of Mount Canaan in Safed, Palestine in 1946
Biography
Raman Salah
Image and Description
Kurdish Jews from Mahabad (Saujbulak), Kurdistan, 1910
Biography
Rez Gardi
Articles
Koya’s Archaeological Sites in Number: Renovation as a Tourism Sector for Financial Purpose
Library
Statistics of construction licence in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2013-2018
Library
Building license report at the level of Iraqi Kurdistan Region 2012
Library
Tourism Establishment survey in Kurdistan Region 2013
Biography
Hanifi Baris
Articles
The Memory of Genocide in Sindis Niheli’s Hizar and The Vicissitudes of Life, Part One and Part Two
Biography
Zeynep Kaya
Archaeological places
Mosque (Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi) in the city of Faraqin
Library
Internal trade Survey in private sector in Iraq and Kurdistan Region 2012-2013
Image and Description
AN EXAMPLE OF BAATHS SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY IN KURDISTAN OF IRAQ
Image and Description
Picture of Kurdish school children, Halabja in south Kurdistan 1965
Biography
Jasmin Moghbeli
Biography
Lisa Calan
Biography
Haval Hussein Saeed
Articles
Mard & JaanMard
Archaeological places
Shemzinan Bridge
Archaeological places
Cendera Bridge
Biography
Hardawan Mahmoud Kakashekh
Articles
Economic Impact of Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Iraq from 2014 to 2018
Image and Description
A Kurdish army in Istanbul to participate in the Battle of the Dardanelles in 1918
Archaeological places
Hassoun Caves
Biography
Shilan Fuad Hussain

Actual
Biography
Jemal Nebez
20-09-2013
Hawreh Bakhawan
Jemal Nebez
Biography
Hasret Gültekin
07-05-2022
Hazhar Kamala
Hasret Gültekin
Archaeological places
Hassoun Caves
14-06-2023
Vazhan Kshto
Hassoun Caves
Articles
The Role of Kurdish Identity in Shaping Political Identity
03-07-2023
Rapar Osman Uzery
The Role of Kurdish Identity in Shaping Political Identity
Biography
Lisa Calan
04-08-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Lisa Calan
New Item
Biography
Shirwan Husen Hamad
02-12-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Building license report at the level of Iraqi Kurdistan Region 2012
29-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Statistics of construction licence in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2013-2018
28-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Trial Monitoring Program Report
24-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Internal trade Survey in private sector in Iraq and Kurdistan Region 2012-2013
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment survey in Kurdistan Region 2013
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism establishments survey in Kurdistan region 2016
23-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2020
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2019
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Library
Tourism Establishment Survey in Kurdistan Region 2021
22-11-2024
Hazhar Kamala
Statistics
Articles
  528,960
Images
  112,611
Books
  20,657
Related files
  107,527
Video
  1,609
Language
کوردیی ناوەڕاست - Central Kurdish 
290,802
Kurmancî - Upper Kurdish (Latin) 
90,941
هەورامی - Kurdish Hawrami 
66,328
عربي - Arabic 
32,198
کرمانجی - Upper Kurdish (Arami) 
19,929
فارسی - Farsi 
11,429
English - English 
7,798
Türkçe - Turkish 
3,688
Deutsch - German 
1,808
لوڕی - Kurdish Luri 
1,690
Pусский - Russian 
1,140
Français - French 
349
Nederlands - Dutch 
131
Zazakî - Kurdish Zazaki 
91
Svenska - Swedish 
72
Polski - Polish 
56
Español - Spanish 
55
Italiano - Italian 
52
Հայերեն - Armenian 
52
لەکی - Kurdish Laki 
37
Azərbaycanca - Azerbaijani 
27
日本人 - Japanese 
21
中国的 - Chinese 
20
Norsk - Norwegian 
18
Ελληνική - Greek 
16
עברית - Hebrew 
16
Fins - Finnish 
12
Português - Portuguese 
10
Тоҷикӣ - Tajik 
9
Ozbek - Uzbek 
7
Esperanto - Esperanto 
7
Catalana - Catalana 
6
Čeština - Czech 
5
ქართველი - Georgian 
5
Srpski - Serbian 
4
Kiswahili سَوَاحِلي -  
3
Hrvatski - Croatian 
3
балгарская - Bulgarian 
2
हिन्दी - Hindi 
2
Lietuvių - Lithuanian 
2
қазақ - Kazakh 
1
Cebuano - Cebuano 
1
ترکمانی - Turkman (Arami Script) 
1
Group
English
Biography 
3,156
Articles 
2,055
Library 
2,001
Documents 
206
Image and Description 
77
Martyrs 
64
Publications 
49
Archaeological places 
44
Parties & Organizations 
36
Maps 
26
Genocide 
21
Clan - the tribe - the sect 
18
Artworks 
17
Places 
9
Statistics and Surveys 
5
Miscellaneous 
4
Video 
2
Offices 
2
Poem 
2
Womens Issues 
1
Environment of Kurdistan 
1
Dates & Events 
1
Quotes 
1
Repository
MP3 
328
PDF 
32,293
MP4 
2,694
IMG 
206,909
∑   Total 
242,224
Content search
Kurdipedia is the largest multilingual sources for Kurdish information!
Articles
Trade exchange (import) in Kurdistan region 2016-2017
Archaeological places
The tomb of the historian Marduk Kurdistani
Biography
Hafiz Akdemir
Library
Trial Monitoring Program Report
Image and Description
The Kurdish Quarter, which is located at the bottom of Mount Canaan in Safed, Palestine in 1946
Biography
Raman Salah
Image and Description
Kurdish Jews from Mahabad (Saujbulak), Kurdistan, 1910
Biography
Rez Gardi
Articles
Koya’s Archaeological Sites in Number: Renovation as a Tourism Sector for Financial Purpose
Library
Statistics of construction licence in Kurdistan Region of Iraq 2013-2018
Library
Building license report at the level of Iraqi Kurdistan Region 2012
Library
Tourism Establishment survey in Kurdistan Region 2013
Biography
Hanifi Baris
Articles
The Memory of Genocide in Sindis Niheli’s Hizar and The Vicissitudes of Life, Part One and Part Two
Biography
Zeynep Kaya
Archaeological places
Mosque (Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi) in the city of Faraqin
Library
Internal trade Survey in private sector in Iraq and Kurdistan Region 2012-2013
Image and Description
AN EXAMPLE OF BAATHS SOCIALISM AND DEMOCRACY IN KURDISTAN OF IRAQ
Image and Description
Picture of Kurdish school children, Halabja in south Kurdistan 1965
Biography
Jasmin Moghbeli
Biography
Lisa Calan
Biography
Haval Hussein Saeed
Articles
Mard & JaanMard
Archaeological places
Shemzinan Bridge
Archaeological places
Cendera Bridge
Biography
Hardawan Mahmoud Kakashekh
Articles
Economic Impact of Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Iraq from 2014 to 2018
Image and Description
A Kurdish army in Istanbul to participate in the Battle of the Dardanelles in 1918
Archaeological places
Hassoun Caves
Biography
Shilan Fuad Hussain

Kurdipedia.org (2008 - 2024) version: 16.08
| Contact | CSS3 | HTML5

| Page generation time: 0.422 second(s)!