{"id":24582,"date":"2017-10-19T15:30:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T15:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/19\/us-abrams-tanks-sway-the-battle-in-kirkuk\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:22:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:22:44","slug":"us-abrams-tanks-sway-the-battle-in-kirkuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/19\/us-abrams-tanks-sway-the-battle-in-kirkuk\/","title":{"rendered":"US Abrams tanks sway the battle in Kirkuk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S.-supplied M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Iraqi Army provided an asymmetrical advantage over Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces during the battle of Kirkuk, according to an American volunteer and Peshmerga commander who witnessed the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the rapid fall of Kirkuk to the Iraqi Army calls into question U.S. foreign security assistance around and the unintended consequences of sophisticated U.S. weapon systems in war-torn regions and its ultimate impact on U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirkuk\u2019s capture by the Iraqi military sparked redrawn borders and renewed territorial disputes not seen since the days of Saddam Hussein. During the 1970s, Hussein\u2019s brutal regime embarked on a program of \u201cArabization\u201d by moving Arab families in around Kurdish-dominated Kirkuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not until the collapse of Hussein\u2019s regime in 2003 did the Kurds reclaim the oil rich city, but that unraveled in lighting speed on Oct. 16, when Iraqi forces led by U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks spearheaded towards the K1 airfield and an industrial zone just south of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t take out an Abrams with anything they have over here. The Peshmerga don\u2019t make IEDs [improvised explosive device] or VBIEDs [vehicle borne IEDs], so they\u2019re shit out of luck for Abrams,\u201d said Ben Alexander, an American volunteer with the Peshmerga. \u201cAnyways, the Peshmerga that didn\u2019t pull back originally were forced to leave because they\/we would have all died and been surrounded if we hadn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander is a former U.S. Army infantry officer who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan with the U.S. military. After leaving the U.S. Army, he worked various contracting gigs and ultimately volunteered on multiple stints with Peshmerga forces, even commanding a 26-man, entirely western unit for the Kurdish fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander was present in Kirkuk when the battle unfolded with Iraqi forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew the Iraqi military was coming with a convoy of 200 to 300 armored vehicles to the west of Kirkuk,\u201d Alexander told Military Times. \u201cAt about 1 a.m., a small group of us drove a few kilometers away from the base to see if we could see the vehicles coming. After 20 minutes or so, tracers started flying in both directions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iraqi convoys were being led by Abrams tanks, followed by Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, in U.S.-armored Humvees and trucks, according to Alexander\u2019s recollection of the events. The convoy that struck the industrial complex just south of Kirkuk had five Abrams tanks in it, Alexander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. coalition still contends there was only one engagement between Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga, which U.S. officials argue was a result of a miscommunication. That event occurred at an industrial zone south of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Times reached out to U.S. officials in Baghdad to confirm whether the location provided<\/a> by Alexander of the firefight in the industrial zone between Iraqi and Kurdish forces was the same event characterized as a \u201cmiscommunication\u201d by U.S. officials at Operation Inherent Resolve, or OIR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials instead reiterated earlier talking points about the engagement. \u201cAs stated in our release of Oct. 16, 2017, a limited exchange of fire occurred in Kirkuk during predawn hours on that date,\u201d an official at OIR told Military Times. \u201cWe believe the engagement on the early morning of Oct. 16 was a misunderstanding affected by limited visibility conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShortly after rockets were hitting both sides along with Abrams rounds hitting the Peshmerga position in the industrial area of western Kirkuk,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cThe Peshmerga commander and second in charge of that position were both killed, so the line crumbled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ben Alexander, featured in the white t-shirt, is an American volunteer with Kurdish Peshmerga forces and is a former U.S. Army infantry officer. He goes by the nom de guerre of Rupert Alan. (Courtesy Photo\/Ben Alexander @therealrupertalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iraqi forces eventually broke through, according to Alexander, and were only two kilometers from his position. \u201cWe returned to the base and started receiving rockets and mortars. Five landed on our base; they had us dialed in, knew the location prior to the attack,\u201d he said, detailing the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Peshmerga commander ultimately ordered Kurdish forces back into Kirkuk, where they believed they could take on the Iraqi Army at various choke points, but the convoy was blocked by Kurdish civilian resistance fighters who feared the fight would harm civilians and destroy the city, Alexander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe civilians wanted us to fight the Iraqi Army back at our base away from the city center,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also received news that Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, Peshmerga forces left Kirkuk open and the Iraqi and Hashd al-Shaabi, or PMF, entered Kirkuk without resistance,\u201d he added. \u201cWe were forced to withdraw from Kirkuk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander\u2019s unit fled the area taking a detour through the mountains towards the Kurdish city of Chamchamal not far from Kirkuk. There were civilians fleeing Kirkuk alongside the Peshmerga convoy as it moved away from the besieged city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrown men cried as they begged us to turn around and fight. We were ordered to leave,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Alexander, Iranian-backed PMF forces burned down Kurdish houses and decapitated Kurds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA city named Tuz Khurmatu got it worse than Kirkuk. All of their Kurdish fled to the mountains and are in a similar situation as the Yazidis were at Sinjar,\u201d Alexander said. A recent United Nations report confirms some of Alexander\u2019s story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe United Nations has received allegations of the burning of about 150 houses in Tuz Khurmatu on 16 and 17 October, by armed groups,\u201d the report<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\t