WASHINGTON DC - Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani called Islamic State (ISIS) military gains in Iraq and Syria a “surprise,” and warned that Erbil will sell its own oil if Baghdad fails to meet its financial obligations to the Kurds.
He blamed former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki for the chaos in the country.
“ISIS is a threat to everyone, not to us alone,” Barzani said in an interview with America’s CNBC news channel. “We managed to stop ISIS in Kurdistan and it was quite a surprise that ISIS was gaining ground after suffering so many defeats on our fronts. On our frontlines, ISIS retreated. So it was surprising to see the gains in Syria and Anbar province,” he added.
Last week, ISIS fighters overran the city of Ramadi in Iraq’s Anbar and days later captured the historical town of Palmyra in Syria, calling into question the US strategy to defeat the militants.
Commenting on long-standing budget and oil issues with the central government, Barzani said that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) would go ahead with selling its own oil to bridge the budget deficit it is suffering because of Baghdad's reluctance to meet its financial obligations to Erbil.
"Either Iraq will commit to the signed agreement and pay the Kurdistan Region or, in another case, if they don't and fail to pay Kurdistan, we will be selling our own oil and collecting our own revenues," he said.
Baghdad has failed to honor the terms of a deal with Erbil that was supposed to resolve a simmering dispute over budget payments to the KRG and Kurdish oil exports.
Barzani was speaking in the Jordanian capital Amman, while participating in the World Economic Forum.
He expressed pride that Kurdish forces have been pushing back ISIS with relatively outdated weapons, compared to the Iraqi army, which has enjoyed substantial financial and military support from the United States and Iran.
“Defeating ISIS is not easy. We have to all wait and see and hopefully they will be defeated in the future,” the Kurdish president said.
“It is not only a military challenge. We have to fight in other ways as well. We need to cut their supplies and roads; we need to fight them together. But what Kurdistan has done against ISIS, we are proud of,” he said.
Barzani also added that losing a battle is not tantamount to losing a war, expressing confidence that ISIS will be eventually defeated.
The Kurdish president said it was Maliki who had turned the Iraqi army into a sectarian force, purging it of officers and soldiers from other non-Shiite communities in Iraq.
“The people who were supposed to fight for the country did not have a cause. That was the main reason the Iraqi army did not succeed,” Barzani said.
He praised the US for coming to Erbil’s assistance when ISIS began its onslaught against Kurdish forces last year, but insisted that Peshmerga forces have not received the US arms needed to beat the group.
“I do feel that the US has done a lot for the Iraqi army. However, it was the Iraqi army that was unable not take best advantage of it. We are very grateful, in fact, to the US for the support they provide to us,” Barzani said.
“Unfortunately, in term of weapons, we have not received the kinds of equipment that we have demanded and which is required to fight and defeat ISIS,” Barzani explained.
He said there is a “misperception” about the direct provision of weapons to the Kurds and hoped the US administration will change its policy of refusing to directly arm the Peshmerga.
Washington has insisted on arming the Kurds through the central government in Baghdad. But since the war with ISIS began, Erbil has complained that deliveries have been stalled by Baghdad.
