Terrorist groups and lawless non-state actors are acquiring sophisticated weaponry that only nation states have historically possessed. Illicit weapons have always been available to those who can afford them, but they have not generally been the latest state of the art equipment, which requires experience and expertise to use.
Recent developments are changing that equation.
The lightly armed Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq is battling the Islamic State’s terrorist army as it defends its newly acquired territory and natural resources. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has equipped itself with up-armored Humvees, U.S.-built tanks, rockets, artillery, and Stinger missiles.
Pete Hoekstra is the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and currently a senior adviser on intelligence and national security with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, in Washington, D.C. He represented Michigan for 18 years in Congress as chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee and as a leading bipartisan voice on policy and oversight of national security, education, labor, and economic issues. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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