ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurds are “great friends” of the United States and Washington will not abandon them after the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack said on Thursday, while welcoming the unification of the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces.
“The Kurds are great friends of America. The intent and the commitment to help them independently with Baghdad, find the answer is always there,” Barrack told Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly when asked whether Washington would continue protecting the Kurds from potential Iranian drone and missile attacks after US forces leave Iraq.
Barrack said US President Donald Trump’s administration was seeking to reduce direct American military involvement while helping its partners become more capable of providing for their own security.
“It’s just I think what you see President Trump saying is a military intervention, kinetic intervention and all of these things has to slowly back up as we help them find their own way,” he said.
“But… we're not leaving anybody deserted.”
The comments come as the US-led coalition prepares to complete its withdrawal from Iraq by September 30, under an agreement reached by Baghdad and Washington.
The drawdown has raised concerns in the Kurdistan Region over security after US troops and air defense systems leave, particularly following repeated attacks on bases in the Region during the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.
Barrack also welcomed the recent unification of the Peshmerga, describing the move as beneficial to both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
“I think it's a great thing for everybody, right? To have a united, single military operation for a sovereign state is essential,” he said, asserting that Peshmerga are not militia.
The Kurdistan Region formally marked the unification of its Peshmerga forces at a ceremony in Erbil on Monday, following years of US-backed reforms aimed at bringing forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.
The process brought the KDP-linked Unit 80 and PUK-linked Unit 70 under the ministry’s command-and-control structure. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said at the ceremony that no Peshmerga force would remain outside the ministry, while stressing that the latest step marked the beginning of a new phase of reform rather than the end of the process.
Washington has supported Peshmerga reform and unification for years. A memorandum of understanding renewed between the US Department of Defense and the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2022 backed efforts to establish a unified and non-partisan force under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. The agreement is due to expire at the end of September.
