The Wall Street Journal, 14:44:02 05 Feb. 2009
Minister Falah Bakir's letter to Wall Street Journal: "Don't forget
Kurds' role in Iraq"
Wall Street Journal,
Letters to the Editor
Your editorial "Obama and Iraq" (January 27) highlights many factors regarding the US strategy in
Iraq but neglects to mention the role of the Kurds. Within Iraq, the Kurds have been America's
strongest ally in both Iraq's liberation from Saddam Hussein and in the democratic transition after
the fall of the previous regime. Our peshmerga forces have fought and died alongside US soldiers
combating terrorists in Iraq. The Kurds deeply appreciate what the US has done by ridding Iraq of a
regime that employed chemical weapons against us and that was responsible for the death or
disappearance of more than 180,000 Kurds.
The autonomous Kurdistan Region is a model for the rest of the country with respect to our culture
of tolerance and our commitment to good governance. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
is also unwavering in its support for federalism and the Iraqi constitutional process. We are also
concerned about any possible trends that seek to accentuate tensions between Arabs and Kurds,
whether in Mosul, Kirkuk, Diyala or elsewhere.
The KRG agrees that the drawdown of US forces must be responsible, and driven more by
conditions inside Iraq rather than by a timetable. The gains in Iraq over the past year have been
substantial, but the politics remain fragile, especially following the provincial elections held on
January 31. We still must navigate the referendum on the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement to
take place late this summer, and parliamentary elections to be held by the end of 2009. Should there
be a US redeployment in Iraq, the KRG is fully committed to working as a partner with the US to
ensure security and stability in Iraq.
Falah Mustafa Bakir
Erbil, Kurdistan Region
Iraq
Minister Bakir is head of the Department of Foreign Relations for the Kurdistan Regional
Government.
(VR)
http://www.krg.org/articles/detail.asp?anr=27736&rnr&areanr=60&smap=02010000&lngnr=12
dostęp: 5.02.2009 / 22:28:04