The United States Betrayed Al-Barzani

The Debka File website, known for its ties to the Israeli intelligence services, reported that tension has reached a height between Massoud Barzani and Obama.

The article reports that Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan, sent a letter marked by anger to American president Obama last week. In the letter, Barzani demands that Washington cancel a significant arms deal — at a value of $11 billion — that the United States is on the verge of signing with the Iraqi government. The letter also stresses Barzani’s complaint that the United States has failed to secure sufficient arms for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. In accordance with the mentioned arms deal, the Iraqi army is preparing to purchase F16 war planes, Abrams M1A1 tanks, guns and military equipment, including armored troop carriers, from the United States. American trainers are also training the Iraqi army as part of this deal.

Beyond the Obama administration’s refusal of the demands of the Kurds, the report indicates that his administration also presented several conditions. According to the article Obama asked the Iraqi Kurds to fight Iran, which armed its agents in Baghdad. The details include that Barzani, because of these developments, sent high-ranking officials from the Kurdish government to capitals of the nations of the Middle East and the Gulf to request diplomatic and military assistance.

The article proceeds to report that Barzani, astonished that the United States has turned its back on him, says that “everything has changed — they have realized that the United States will not provide arms for them and will not support them, and so the Kurds will once again become easy prey for Baghdad.” The report also contains another point, which is that Barzani stressed that “Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and his army will be able to invade the Kurdish region within one or two years, using the weapons secured from the United States, and surround the oil fields found there, as well as Kirkuk and Mosul.”

It seems that the United States has left the Kurds to meet their fate, as is always the case. But that this tension between the United States and the Kurds appears on an internet site that sympathizes with the Israeli administration brings to mind some questions. Do we wonder if Israel is uncomfortable with the arms deal between the United States and the Iraqi government, and so it has sent a message to the United States through the Kurds?