Surreal situation as US sends help to destroy US weaponry

Iraqi forces, trained by the US in recent years and reinforced with US armour, is losing military equipment to Islamic State at a staggering rate, writes Peter Van Buren

IRAQI security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armoured vehicles when Islamic State overran the northern city of Mosul in June 2014, prime minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday.

Coupled with previous losses of US weapons, the conclusion is simple: The US is effectively supplying Islamic State with tools of war the militant group cannot otherwise hope to acquire from its patrons.