Why is Massoud Barzani blaming the US for the Kurds not having an independent Country?

By Hamma Mirwaisi and Alison Buckley

Recently the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Massoud Barzani informed a delegation from the US based Middle East Institute (MEI) of the reasons why he believes the Kurdish people still have not established an independent political entity. (1) The MEI is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, DC. Founded in 1946, it is the oldest institution in Washington dedicated exclusively to the study of the Middle East. The mission of the institute is 'to increase knowledge of the Middle East among the citizens of the United States and to promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas.'

President Barzani's claim that the US Government is responsible for the apparent failure of the Kurdish independence movement is an implausible attempt to deflect the blame for the impasse from himself and his partner, Jalal Talabani, both of whom have placed obstacles in the path of the Kurdish people's freedom.

In reply the members of the delegation might well have asked Barzani about the US Government's failure to prevent him and Talabani from unifying their forces against the Kurdish people's wishes, including transparent elections, a truly representative parliament, an impartial justice system and even-handed law enforcement.

Barzani's and Talabani's governments in Iraqi South Kurdistan misrepresent the Kurdish people's inherent drive for self-determination based on their forbear General Cyrus the Great's political confederation, on which Thomas Jefferson partially modelled the US Constitution.

Economically, it is well known that both Iraqi Kurdish mafia style dynasties have appropriated the people's wealth, secreting it into international banks overseas instead of building a country for the Kurdish people. Strategically based on oil deals, the Barzani family's alliances with the Prime Minister of Turkey and the Israelis, and the Talabani family's alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran have aimed to protect them from the Kurdish people's freedom movement.

These policies have been supported militarily by the KRG's regional militia forces, which have destroyed peaceful civilian demonstrators and journalists reporting on political leaders' corruption and unlawful activities without penalty, instead of protecting Kurdish people from sectarian violence in Iraq and defending their rights. Along with inherent problems in the KRG's legislative, executive and judicial arms, these violations discredit the cause of Kurdish independence.

As a result, the Kurdish people's desire for peace and freedom and their support for  democratic revolutions in Turkey, Iran and Syria under the leadership of jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan have reached an all-time high. The Barzani family's new oil war with the Turkish Prime Minister in the Middle East is yet another ploy against this revolution (2).

Even so, at the behest of the Turkish Prime Minister, Barzani is entrapping Syrian Kurds by digging ditches on his western border, whilst engaging in a war of words with the Iraqi Shi'a Government in Baghdad to the south and facing instability in the Talabani family's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the east. At the same time the Kurdish people's freedom forces control his only northern exit, where war could easily break out if a successful peace is not soon negotiated with Turkey.

A slow death is threatening Barzani's leadership. It is now up to the President of the KRG to take responsibility for his failure to discharge his duty to his people fairly and transparently and work comprehensively for their benefit. Instead of blaming the US for it, he should return what he has taken from the Kurdish people.

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