Urgent US report recommends empowering the Kurdistan Region to be a strong ally of Washington in the region
Urgent US report recommends empowering the Kurdistan Region to be a strong ally of Washington in the region
10/24/2020 10:52
[Baghdad_Where]
On Saturday, an American report recommended enabling the Kurdistan Region and exchanging intelligence information with it to be a strong ally of the United States in the region.
A report by “The Hill” website quoted Seth J. Executive Director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. Frantzman said, “The pro-Iranian factions in Iraq are among their threats to America’s allies in Iraq, such as the Kurdistan region, in an attempt to pressure the United States to withdraw all its forces from the country.”
He stressed, “If those factions stop attacking American forces for fear of the American response, they will not stop targeting America’s few remaining partners in Iraq, especially the Kurds, with the aim of pressuring Washington to leave Iraq, which gives these factions the opportunity to control the country.”
Frantzman pointed out that three years ago, after ISIS was largely defeated in Iraq, the Kurds held a referendum on independence. In response, Baghdad sent its tanks to the disputed city of Kirkuk and expelled the Peshmerga, warning the Kurds at the time that the PMF was advancing in power. And it invades Kirkuk, Sinjar and areas around Mosul.
He emphasized that over the past few years the PMF has become a state within the state, and they have established checkpoints and bases all over Iraq.
He added that the Trump administration has succeeded in deterring these factions, using air strikes and threats, noting that these factions fear that President Trump will react harshly if American forces are harmed, so they attack the US partners.
Frantzman stressed the need for Washington to continue to invest in the security of the Kurdistan region, and said that the American pressure after the attacks at Erbil airport resulted in the request of the 30th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which controls the area from which the missiles were launched, to return back outside Erbil.
He continued, “This is important; the United States must continue to pressure and exchange intelligence information and security coordination with the Kurdish forces, to enable Erbil to be a strong ally in the region.”
Last week, hundreds of Popular Mobilization supporters attacked the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Baghdad, setting it on fire, and stormed the party headquarters, affiliated with the Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, in central Baghdad, and destroyed its contents, before setting it on fire despite a large police presence. .
On September 30th, terrorist attacks targeted the International Coalition base in Erbil, which includes American forces, without causing any casualties, in an attack, the first of its kind in this region.
alliraqnews.com
