ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – During the debate “Iraq, 10 Years Later” organized by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. last week, Senator John McCain said he was greatly worried about the outcome of the serious differences between Erbil and Baghdad.
Asked where he thought the tensions with Iraq would lead, the Republican senator and former presidential candidate said he believed that Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani still wanted a unified Iraq, but that events could dictate otherwise.
“Kurdish interests are first and foremost in President Barzani's priority list, and I think that he would very much like to cooperate with us, have our assistance, do things, but he also covering all of his bets, and if I were him, I'd be doing the same thing,” McCain said.
McCain said he was surprised when he met Barzani six months ago, and learned that he did not regularly meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
“I asked Barzani, ‘when's the last time you spoke to Maliki?’ He said, ‘well over a year.’”
“I worry a great deal about the final outcome,” McCain said.
About Kurdish statehood, McCain said he was still hopeful that, despite Kurdish aspirations of statehood, Iraq would remain intact.
“The Kurds have dreamed of a Kurdish state for centuries, and I think there are some Kurds that believe that that opportunity may be on the horizon, given the situation in Syria and Iraq and Turkey and these places.
“But despite this, I still hope for a unified Iraq and reconciliation between the Iraqi political factions,” he said.
