President Barzani Comes to Washington: Discusses Islamic State, Independence
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with the Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani to discuss a campaign to destroy the Islamic State. On Tuesday, May 5th Barzani made his first visit to the White House in three years. While here, Barzani will meet with the Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Wednesday.
Many news sources predicted that self-determination, independence, and the direct transfer of funds and equipment to the Kurdish forces would be the main topics discussed. However, following the meeting, a White House stressed that dealing with the Islamic State was the primary reason for the talks.
While commending the Kurdish Peshmerga for their strength and bravery, President Obama and VP Biden continued to reaffirm their support for a unified and inclusive Iraq and in apparent opposition to U.S. Congressional efforts to direct aid to Kurdish troops. A U.S. Defense bill has proposed authorizing a percentage of funds go directly to the Kurdish Peshmerga rather than having to first go through the central government in Baghdad. Currently, the U.S. provides aid to the Iraqi government, who is then supposed to distribute this support to Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State. However, the Kurdish forces have complained that the aid is instead being diverted to Shia militias. The Obama administration has sided with the Iraqi government and opposed the bill.White House spokesmen made several statements both prior to and after the meeting, all emphasizing the administration position on Iraqi territorial unity.
Barzani indicated that Kurdistan has faced numerous challenges, specifically in fighting against Islamic State jihadists. More than 4,000 Iraqis are being trained in Iraqi Kurdistan in order to retake the city of Mosul after fleeing. The Kurds have been critically important in the fight against the Islamic State and were integral in the liberation of both Tikrit, in northern Iraq, and Kobane, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border. Since the Islamic State’s rise, the Kurds population has jumped nearly 28 percent because of an influx of refugees. Nearly 1.5 million displaced persons form Iraq and Syria have fled to Kurdistan. President Barzani assured that Kurdistan will continue to welcome the refugees with open arms and ensure that Kurdistan remains “the beacon of all and also the land of tolerance regardless of national, ethnic, religious and ethnic background.”
Meanwhile, Barzani himself is known for his support for an independent Kurdistan. In an interview on the morning of May 6th with the Atlantic Council, Barzani made it clear that the Kurds were cooperating and fighting alongside the Iraqi soldiers in an effort to defeat IS. Nevertheless, he stated that the unity was dependent on how democratic the Iraqi government is and reaffirmed that the unity was voluntary, not compulsory. Despite wishes for independence, Kurdistan’s current priority is defeating the Islamic State.
Admittedly however, when it comes to democracy, Barzani and his family members do not appear to always practice what they preach. As Michael Rubin writes in Commentary Magazine, Barzanis dominate nearly every element of the Kurdish Regional Government. While they play an instrumental role in combating Islamic State, the Kurdish government has been known to inappropriately use their power in ways that serve the ruling family rather than the Kurdish people.
That said, the Kurdish Regional Government is primarily focused on secular, nationalist concerns, and, while majority Sunni, the Kurds tend to be less susceptible to the attraction of Islamist politics than the Iraqi Sunni tribes, some of whom sided with Islamic State against Baghdad. This makes the Kurds a highly desirable ally against both the Islamic State, and against attempts by Tehran to export its Islamic Revolution to Iraq.
