Congress warns Kurds against further steps after independence vote
The Kurdistan Regional Government’s decision to go ahead with its referendum has tempered years of robust congressional support for the Iraqi Kurds.
The Iraqi Kurds’ independence vote on Sept. 25 has forced Congress to rethink its longtime support of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The KRG has enjoyed bipartisan US support and a great deal of autonomy ever since the first Gulf War in 1991. Its decision to go ahead with a referendum that threatens to unravel the regional unity against the Islamic State (IS), however, has ruffled feathers on Capitol Hill.
“Obviously it was not something we felt like was in our national interest,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Al-Monitor. “We felt like it would weaken [Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi] as he runs for re-election in [2018], and we didn’t think the timing of it was good.”
“We’ve been very, very clear [with KRG President Massoud Barzani and others] that this is not something we support,” Corker added.
