I gave each candidate score from 0 to 10 on different Kurdish topics, like how strong they believe America should Arm Kurds, Arm Kurds Directly, Accept Kurdistan's Independence, and Views on Turkey (the higher score the least chance of selling Kurds to Turkey), this is an interactive Google Chart and I will update it as news comes out. I will include the source of the news bellow.
Oops I just noticed I missed Marco Rubio... but I don't really feel like adding him to the chart right now.
Rand Paul :
"Part of the problem is the Kurds aren’t getting enough arms, The Kurds are the best fighters. The arms are going through Baghdad to get to the Kurds and they’re being siphoned off and they’re not getting what they need. I think any arms coming from us or coming from any European countries ought to go directly to the Kurds. They seem to be the most effective and most determined fighters.
But I would go one step further: I would draw new lines for Kurdistan and I would promise them a country.:" Source
Ted Cruz:
The Kurds, are boots on the ground right now. They’re fighting. They’re effective fighters. they’re loyal to us. They’ve been strong allies. and ISIS is using US military equipment that they seized in Iraq. The Kurds are using outmoded equipment, and the Obama administration refuses to provide weaponry to the Kurds because they think it would dismay Baghdad. I think that makes no sense. Source
Carly Fiorina:
“The Kurds have asked us to arm them for three years. We are not. I would,” Carly Fiorina said in a Fox Business Network debate on Nov. Source
Hilary Clinton:
"f we get the Turks to pay more attention to ISIS than they’re paying to the Kurds, if we do put together the kind of coalition with the specific tasks that I am outlining, I think we can be successful in destroying ISIS." Source
She praised the Kurds for fighting “bravely” against ISIS, even as the Iraqi national army, she said, was struggling and would need “more work to get it up to fighting shape.” Clinton spoke about the need to arm both Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi Sunnis to tackle ISIS. Source
Bernie Sanders:
Q:Would you support arming the Peshmerga, the Kurdish forces?Yes. I think we should arm them--even that's a difficult issue to make sure that the people that we arm today don't turn against us tomorrow. But I think providing arms for those people who we can trust and providing air support is in fact something we should be doing.
Q: Would it be confined to the Peshmerga? I know that you voted against arming and training Syrian rebels. So is there a difference to you between the Peshmerga and the Syrian rebels?
We have been at war for 12 years. We have spent trillions of dollars. We have 500,000 young men and women who have come up--come home with PTSD and TBI. What I do not want and I fear very much is the US getting sucked into a quagmire and being involved in perpetual warfare year after year after year. That is my fear. Source
Marco Rubio:
In his plan to defeat ISIS mentions:
Provide arms directly to Sunni tribal and Kurdish forces if Baghdad fails to support them.
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