As the U.S. mulls over a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, its Kurdish allies have a message: Don’t forget us.
“This is not the time to reduce coalition forces in Iraq,” Treefa Aziz, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s special representative to the U.S., told Fox News Digital.
“Extremist groups like ISIS and armed militias continue to pose a serious threat to the people of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”
The U.S. announced plans to shrink the U.S. “footprint” in Iraq and end the current mission of coalition forces – including the Kurds – to fight ISIS, but declined to say how many of the 2,500 troops currently stationed there would remain.
“A decade ago, Kurdish Peshmerga forces worked alongside U.S. troops to defeat ISIS and continue to actively combat ISIS remnants to prevent a resurgence of terror today,” Aziz said. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “has been a reliable security partner for the United States and remains ready to enhance cooperation.”
But now, if Baghdad is pushing the U.S. out of Iraq, the U.S. could feel it must honor that request or risk making another enemy in the Middle East. The KRG says it would be “willing and able” to host U.S. coalition forces in its territory.
The current mission is now set to end by September 2025, with a plan to keep the number of forces on the Iraqi side to back up the 900 U.S. troops in Syria until at least 2026.
News of a plan that could amount to a significant drawdown of U.S. forces called to mind 2019, when former President Donald Trump announced plans to pull out of Syria and the Kurds felt abandoned by a partner they had fought alongside for years – leaving them open to an attack by Turkish forces.
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Trump, at the time, left the Kurds with a warning to their longtime enemies: “I have told Turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane . . . they could suffer the wrath of an extremely decimated economy.”
The U.S. relationship with the Kurds – an indigenous group of daring fighters whose quest for their own formal state has been unsuccessful – spans back decades.
When the Turks denied the U.S. passage into Iraq for the invasion in 2003, Iraqi Kurds helped the U.S. overthrow Saddam Hussein.
The Kurds have fought with U.S. coalition forces since they reentered Iraq in 2014 to fight ISIS, and the U.S. pledged arms support and humanitarian aid.
The group faces attacks from terror groups on all sides. And as Iran increasingly encroaches on the Iraqi government, Baghdad has the KRG in a choke-hold, officials say.
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“There is growing concern regarding efforts to weaken the federal system in Iraq. The constitutional framework, which is designed to ensure shared governance, is disregarded,” one Kurdish official said.
“The continued suspension of oil exports from the Kurdistan region has placed significant economic strain. More than a year and half later, we have yet to see the resumption of these exports.”
The KRG has been trying to work with the Iraqis on a power-sharing agreement with no real results.
“Some of these actions appear to align with external influences rather than the broader national interest,” the official said, referring to Iranian influence. “With the assistance of our allies, we believe these issues can be resolvable through constructive dialogue and cooperation.”
The KRG is also asking the U.S. government to “honor its commitment” included in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to “provide the KRG with a comprehensive air defense system.
The law required the Department of Defense to submit and implement a plan for providing the Iraqi security forces and Kurdistan Region with air defenses by July 2024.
“As a steadfast U.S. ally that is regularly targeted by extremist violence, the KRG requires assurances that it will be protected from all threats, both internal and external,” said Aziz.
Gen. Michael Kurilla, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the House Armed Services Committee in March that ISIS-K, which launched a horrific attack in Moscow earlier this year, “retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”