Lobbying 2014: Kurdistan Regional Government looks to strike out on its own

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) has hired some of the best lobbying and PR talent in Washington to convince the United States to start treating it like a sovereign country.

Those efforts have begun to pay out in a big way over the past few weeks as Congress looks set to deliver on some of the KRG's top priorities. These include lifting burdensome terrorism designations and no longer requiring that aid be channeled through Baghdad.

The Kurds, however, want the United States to go one step further and get out of the way of their push for independence — a non-starter for the Iraqi federal government and officials in the administration of President Barack Obama.

“If they want to be supportive, we welcome it. If they don’t want to be supportive, we ask them to be neutral,” said Karwan Zebari, the director of Congressional and academic affairs with the KRG's Washington office. “Just stay on the sidelines. We know exactly what we’re doing.”