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Support Kurds Combating ISIL

Support the Iraqi Kurds with arms needed to defeat the terrorist Islamic State (ISIL) threat

As your constituent, I am writing to voice my appeal regarding the urgent need for the United States to provide arms aid to our pro-western allies in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. The relatively stable and democratic Kurdistan Region is currently confronting a savage assault by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist organization that brutally targets religious and ethnic minorities and seeks to establish a radical Islamist state across the Middle East.



ISIL is waging a war against the most basic pillars of human freedom and civilization; namely, the right to freedom of speech and religion and the culture of coexistence and democracy. The terrorist organization has launched countless offensives against civilian populations in Syria and Iraq and continues to seize territory. In the past week, ISIL launched attacks on more towns and villages - most notably the Kurdish-controlled town of Sinjar - in the northwestern region of Iraqs Nineveh province. In each of these attacks, ISIL has specifically targeted vulnerable minorities including members of the Christian and Yezidi communities and killed thousands of innocent civilians while displacing hundreds of thousands.



The Kurdistan Region is a beacon of stability in the Middle East with a strong commitment to the principles of human rights and democracy. Since 2003, the region has experienced relative peace and prosperity and the Kurdistan Regional Government has been committed to the protection of minorities in Iraq and to peaceful coexistence. Currently, the Kurdistan Region is providing refuge to most of the roughly half a million people fleeing the ISIL violence.



Today, the security of the Kurdistan Region and the safety of the people there are threatened. ISIL terrorists seek to expand north and are attacking Kurdish-controlled towns with the latest high-tech weaponry and artillery captured from the collapsing Iraqi army. Kurdish Peshmerga Armed Forces have been forced to confront ISIL with a limited and outdated military equipment capacity. Regional and international security experts have identified the latest Kurdish Peshmerga withdrawal from parts of Nineveh and elsewhere as a consequence of lack of weapons and ammunition that can rival that of the terrorist elements.



As your constituent, I hope I can receive your support to adopt and approve an arms aid bill to supply the Kurdistan Regional Government with the necessary weaponry to defend against the terrorist threat. The Kurdistan Region has been a friend of the US since its foundation and was a key ally in the US-led war in Iraq. I urge you to protect the interests of the United States and our allies and request that Congress and the Obama Administration take swift action to support the Kurdish Peshmerga in their fight against terrorism.



Thank you for your prompt attention regarding this important matter.