The story: The Pentagon’s delivery of heavy artillery to Kurdish Peshmerga forces has stoked public calls in federal Iraq for the weapons to be seized. Critics charge that the deal exacerbates already tense relations between Baghdad and Erbil. Others warn that the armaments could be deployed in contested borderlands straddling Iraqi Kurdistan’s frontiers. However, some observers suggest the controversy is only a ruse deployed by critics of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani—aiming to stymie his rapprochement with Erbil. 

The coverage: In early August, reports emerged of the delivery of two dozen 105mm M119 howitzers to forces answering to the...