Freshman senator wants review of US weapons given to Iraq

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wants details from President Obama about U.S. efforts to arm Iraqi militia groups and investigate the possibility those weapons have fallen into the hands of Iranian-supported fighters.

“I would request a detailed response from your Administration regarding the frequency and the amount of equipment we have provided to the Iraqi government which has then been provided to the Iraqi Shia militia groups supported or controlled by Iran,” the freshman lawmaker said Thursday in a letter to the president.

She also requested an answer on the “level of support and equipment provided by the Iraqi government to the Kurdish Peshmerga and Sunni tribal forces, and if that support has been received in a less timely manner than the support provided to Iraqi Shia militia from the Iraqi government.”

The letter comes as Republican lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about the influence Iran is spreading throughout the Middle East, especially in Iraq, where Baghdad’s forces are in a pitched battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Iran’s military is playing a greater role helping Iraqi troops fight ISIS, serving as advisers in the ongoing offensive to retake the city of Tikrit. Tehran has also been a critical ally of Iraq’s government.

On Wednesday, Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that around 20,000 Shiite militia members trained by Iran are fighting in Iraq today.

Ernst, an Iraq War veteran who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, urged the president to step up his supervision to ensure U.S. arms and equipment don’t end up in the hands of the Iranian-backed militias.

“I believe the administration must increase its oversight of the Iraq Train-and-Equip mission to ensure neither U.S. military support, nor equipment, is obtained by Iranian supported or controlled Iraqi Shia militia,” she said.