Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received a United States congressional delegation, led by Congressman Rob Wittman.

In the meeting, which was also attended by Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister, Qubad Talabani, Mr. Wittman commended the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga Forces for having been able to repulse the attacks of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, ISIS, as well as their ability and commitment, which he said he observed in the training centres that the delegation has visited.

The issues between the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, and Iraq’s Federal Government were discussed in the meeting, highlighting Baghdad’s refusal to honour its agreement with the Region.

The financial burden, which represents the hosting of over 1.7 million refugees and internally displaced people, IDPs, who fled ISIS repression and took refuge in Kurdistan, was also discussed in the meeting.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed the gratitude of the government and people of Kurdistan Region to President Barak Obama, his administration, the congress, the people and the military forces of the United States that have played a significant role in protecting Kurdistan people from the terrorist threats by providing Kurdistan Region with humanitarian and military assistance.

He expressed his hope that this assistance, particularly in the military fields, will continue.

Prime Minister Barzani also urged the delegation to play a role in solving the issues between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq’s Federal Government that could lead Baghdad to honour the agreement, reached last December between the two sides, on oil export and budgetary issues.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday received United States Ambassador to Iraq, Stuart Jones and his accompanying delegation.

Mr Jones pointed out the visit by Kurdistan Region President, Masoud Barzani and his accompanying delegation to the United States last month, valuing the meetings and talks held during the visit.

The two sides discussed the latest political situation in Iraq, military operations, and the United States support to Iraq in general and Kurdistan Region in particular.

Ambassador Jones reiterated that his country will continue its support to the Peshmerga forces, as it was discussed and stressed during President Barzani’s visit to the United States.

In the meeting, the relations between Erbil and Baghdad and the financial problems which appeared in the Kurdistan Region as the result of Baghdad’s withholding Kurdistan’s budgets early last year, were also discussed.

Ambassador Jones expressed his support for the agreement reached between Kurdistan Region and Iraqi Federal Government last December to settle oil export and budgetary issues.

He also pointed to the situation in the region in general and the importance of the participation of the Sunnis in the political process in Iraq as well the liberation of the Sunni areas under the control of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, ISIS.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his thanks and appreciation for his assessment of the successful visit of the President of the Kurdistan Region and his accompanying delegation to Washington. In this regard, he thanked the US embassy in Iraq to have organised and set the programme of the visit.

Regarding the humanitarian and military situation, Prime Minister Barzani hoped that the United States will continue its support to the Peshmerga forces and to the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG, by providing relief aid to the large number of refugees and internally displaces people who sought safety in Kurdistan Region.

Regarding the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, Prime Minister Barzani outlined KRG's position, saying that the Kurdistan Region has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement. He pointed out that the KRG is waiting for Iraqi Federal Government to meet its obligations by sending Kurdistan Region liabilities adequately, as defined in the agreement, in the coming days.  

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with the commander of the United States Central Command General Lloyd Austin and the US Ambassador to Iraq Mr. Stuart Jones in Erbil today.

The President and the US general discussed the military campaign currently underway against the ISIS terrorists and the military support of the US to the peshmerga forces. President Barzani thanked the United States and other coalition countries for their military support for the peshmerga.

General Austin recognized the role of the peshmerga forces in the fight against the ISIS terrorists and reaffirmed continued US support for the peshmerga. In particular, he praised the military successes and gains made by the peshmerga forces in areas north of Mosul in recent days, attributing these victories to the able leadership and the personal involvement of President Barzani in supervising these operations.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, (KRG.org) The Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers has appointed the current KRG Representative to the United Kingdom, Ms. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, as the new KRG Representative to the United States of America.

Commenting on this decision, the Head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa said, “Based on the KRG’s policy to develop its foreign relations and under the recommendation of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, as well as the fact that this important post has been vacant for a period of time, Ms. Rahman has been appointed as the KRG’s new Representative to the United States of America.”

The Kurdistan Regional Government currently has 14 representation offices abroad.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with the commander of the United States General Command General Lloyd Austin in Salahaddin on Wednesday.

The President and the US General discussed the military campaign currently underway against the ISIS terrorists and the military support of the US to the peshmerga forces. President Barzani thanked the United States and other countries for their military and humanitarian support of the KRG and added that thanks to this support, the peshmerga forces have now got the initiative against the terrorists.

General Austin recognized the role of the peshmerga forces in the fight against the ISIS terrorists and reaffirmed continued US support for the peshmergas.

The two agreed that ISIS is a threat to the whole region and the world, and that confronting it needs international efforts and cooperation.

United States Vice President Joe Biden spoke with the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani on Sunday to discuss security and political challenges facing Iraq.

The US Vice President praised the recent successes of the peshmerga forces against the ISIS terrorists and reiterated US government support for them. On the political process in Baghdad, he expressed his government’s hope that a new government can be formed on sound basis and one which can revive trust and can address all the challenges facing the country.

Washington Post Editorial Board

A NEW humanitarian and security crisis has erupted in northern Iraq, where the al-Qaeda-derived Islamic State borders territories controlled by Iraqi and Syrian Kurds. Since last weekend, tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped on a mountainside near the Iraqi town of Sinjar, which was captured by Islamic State fighters. The refugees, including an estimated 25,000 children, lack supplies of food and water and could perish in a matter of days unless a relief corridor is opened, according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, the extremist forces are threatening to capture Iraq’s two largest dams and are pressing toward Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Both the potential human cost and the threat to U.S. interests are vastly greater than in the Gaza Strip, which has consumed the attention of Secretary of State John F. Kerry and senior White House officials in recent weeks. An Iraqi minority group concentrated in the contested area, the Yazidis, is facing nothing less than genocide at the hands of the Islamic State, which considers the sect heretical. Meanwhile, the strongest and most reliable U.S. ally remaining in the region, the Kurdistan government, is struggling to hold the line against Islamic State forces.

The Obama administration’s response to this emergency, however, has been listless. U.S. officials have reportedly authorized the direct supply of munitions to Kurdish forces, which have been attempting to retake Sinjar, and have coordinated attacks by the Iraqi air force against Islamic State targets. It has also pushed the Iraqi government to carry out a humanitarian air drop in the area where the Yazidi refugees are stranded, though the operation achieved only limited results, according to a report by The Post’s Loveday Morris.

Kurdish forces still suffer from the warped and outdated U.S. policy toward Iraq, which prioritizes maintaining a strong central government in Baghdad over aiding the secular, democratic and pro-Western Kurds. A Kurdish delegation that visited Washington last month seeking direct military aid to fight the Islamic State was rebuffed. Administration officials contend they cannot act without the consent and cooperation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, even though his sectarian policies are largely responsible for returning the country to civil war.

President Obama dispatched some 800 U.S. personnel to Iraq earlier this summer in order to evaluate the Islamic State threat, protect the U.S. embassy and coordinate assistance. But the administration has refrained from major new aid initiatives or U.S. military action, saying that it first wants to see the formation of a broadly representative Iraqi government. That goal may not be achievable in the near future, or ever; meanwhile, the extremist Islamist forces continue to advance, both in Iraq and Syria.

Mr. Obama is right to deny new support to the Iraqi government as long as the toxic Mr. Maliki remains in office. But it can and should act immediately to address the humanitarian crisis in northern Iraq and to further support Kurdish forces, which face the Islamic state along a 600-mile border. If the Iraqi airlift of supplies to the stranded Yazidis is ineffective, the United States should consider other action to save the refugees. It also should supply Kurds with the heavy weapons they have requested and, if necessary, use U.S. air power to stop the Islamic State forces from advancing further.