What Went Wrong with the American-Kurdish Relationship?

Many people were baffled this week by the sudden news that Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani was not going to Washington. Barzani’s supporters said it was the Kurdish president who had cancelled the visit. Others laughed and said, “Who could cancel on the president of the most powerful country in the world?” From the US there was no explanation, and out of Kurdistan only came conflicting reports.

But who snubbed who isn’t really the issue. The real question is: How do the Kurds see America today.

Ten years ago the Kurds saw America as an ally, and America regarded them as friends. The Kurds joined America’s war and contributed to Saddam Hussein’s downfall. Kurdish Peshmarga and security forces offered the Americans intelligence, advice and guidance. Kurdish politicians and ministers went to Baghdad and put into service their two decades of experience to rebuild the Iraqi government.

What did they expect in return? A democratic Iraq that America had promised everyone. But ten years on, not only have the Kurds not seen a democratic country that respects their rights, they in fact feel it is often America -- not Baghdad -- that is acting against them.

When the Kurds announced the construction of an oil pipeline that would connect them to world energy markets via Turkey, Washington was the first to come out against such a plan, ignoring the fact that the Kurds were only practicing the same constitution that America helped to draft and asked everyone to respect. At the slightest mention of Kurdish independence, America is the first to speak of Iraq’s territorial integrity. One feels that US officials worry about Iraq’s disintegration more than some of Iraq’s most nationalist leaders.

For years, Kurdish leaders have been telling America not to sell arms to Iraq because the country is too explosive and dangerous as it is. But their pleas fall on deaf ears, like the cries of Iraq’s Sunnis, who are getting killed by the same troops that were trained, armed and equipped by America.

The Kurds feel betrayed once again. But this time, in a shorter span of time than ever before.

Just a few years ago the Kurdistan Region was hailed by America as a model for the rest of Iraq. It was the only safe and stable part of Iraq when American troops were engaged in bloody battles with Shiite and Sunni insurgents in the rest of the country. For many American military officials and civil servants in Baghdad, coming to Kurdistan was a breath of fresh air, a respite from daily car bombs.

The Kurds are certainly not asking for any credit for what they did. They joined America because they too wanted the end of tyranny in Iraq. They too hoped for a free and prosperous Iraq and they put their hearts into that project. However, all of that sounds like ancient history now. The Kurds had a long-term vision for Iraq, while America appears to have given up on that country.

Today, it is Iraq’s warring parties -- the Shiites and Sunnis -- who go to Washington, stab each other in the back, ask for weapons, speak of fighting terrorism, pledge support for America and lament their own miseries. And yet, they are received as world class diplomats.

Some reports said that America still has Kurdistan’s two major parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on its blacklist of suspected organizations, hence Barzani’s refusal to visit to Washington. If this is true, it is absurd. That is because one of America’s excuses for invading Iraq in 2003 was that Saddam had massacred his own people, mainly the Kurds. Then how can it be that the political parties and two Kurdish presidents are on a blacklist because they had once carried arms against Saddam?

It has been said time and again that America does not have a clear policy on the Kurds. But that is not quite true. America does have a policy on the Kurds, but a wrong one. Washington still seems to view the Kurds as a humanitarian case. The same way it feels about speaking in support of a persecuted minority in any Third World country.

But the Kurds of Iraq are past that stage. Their story is not about human rights, coexistence and living peacefully side by side. They have figured that out already. It is about mutual respect. It is about how much sacrifice they have made for the new Iraq. It is that they respect the sovereignty of their neighbors and try to build good relations with the East and West.

The Kurds would like be seen as equal partners in Iraq, and want their efforts recognized. They would not want a visit to Washington as a US favor. What they want is for their voice to be heard and their opinion respected.