MESOP BACKGROUND : A report Friday by IHS Jane’s + STRATFOR / IS advance to Kurdistan Region is a US red line

9-8-2014 – The United States probably considers Islamic State advances into the Kurdistan region to be a red line, a report said.

“The United States probably considers Islamic State advances into the Kurdistan region to be a red line, given the threat to U.S. investments and the (region’s) role as a potential staging ground for future operations,” a report Friday by IHS Jane’s, which provides analysis on defense and security issues, said. On Friday, F/A-18 jets dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece the militant group was using to shell Kurdish forces defending Erbil, a Pentagon spokesman was quoted by Stars and Stripes website as saying. The reason for the U.S. airstrikes “is pretty self-evident — if the peshmerga can’t defend and protect, then they need help,” said the diplomat who could not be named under standing rules.

Jihadists underestimated, Peshmerga overestimated

“Everyone has underestimated (the militants). They are not some ragtag group — they are highly organized, equipped and funded with a strong strategic vision,” the envoy said. The West may have overestimated the Peshmerga’s strengths, said Afzal Ashraf, a fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, a military and security think tank. “The peshmerga are essentially a large militia, not an army,” Ashraf said. “They lack equipment and training.” “The militants obviously have the advantage of choice where to attack, and they have been able to exploit this (by striking) where the Peshmerga were weak.”

When Islamic State insurgents swept into Mosul and other parts of northern and central Iraq in June, many analysts believed the jihadists would not take on Kurdish security forces. But less than two months later, it has become apparent that the group plans to expand its caliphate — proclaimed across swathes of Syria and Iraq — to include Kurdistan. “So far, the militants (IS) have proved adept at taking advantage of (their) enemies’ divisions … using geography and mobility to mitigate external threats,” the security firm Stratfor said in a report this week.