Americans, Kurds Renew Alliance to Fight ISIS
Despite Trump’s gross, and frankly bizarre betrayal of our Kurdish allies, Biden’s administration is recommitting to the fight against ISIS.
Assistant Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander met with Iraqi leaders this week to reiterate our U.S. partnership with the nation, and to underscore that U.S. commitment to supporting Iraq in its fight against ISIS.
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Wallander who is the assistant secretary for international security matters and a new memorandum of agreement with Shoresh Ismail Abdulla, the Kurdistan Regional Government minister of peshmerga affairs, on Sept. 21. The agreement sets out mutually agreed upon parameters over the coming four years while the U.S. continues to support the peshmerga to fight ISIS operations.
Then, in Baghdad, Wallander met with Iraq Defense Minister Jumah Inad Sadun as well as other defense leaders. Wallander emphasized the long-term relationship with the United States and Iraq and discussed on-going efforts to build the operational capabilities for Iraq’s Iraqi Security Forces. She and Iraq’s defense leaders discussed ways to expand collaboration between the two countries beyond counterterrorism operations to address emerging threats , and to improve collaboration and interoperability.
Wallander later traveled on to the Iraqi city Irbil where she met with Kurdish officials, including Nechirvan Idris Barzani, president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region and the commander-in-chief of the peshmerga.
The memorandum that she signed for the Department of Defense continues the critical partnership with the peshmerga that dates from the beginning of the Gulf War. “For decades, we have worked together based on shared objectives and a common commitment to the mandate that all people deserve dignity, security and the right to seek a better future,” she stated during the signing ceremony in Irbil.
The main threat today is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The terror group burst out of the areas that were not governed by Syria in 2014, and swept away forces battling it. The Department of Defense first signed an MOU with the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2016 during the time that ISIS controlled large areas of the territory in Iraq in order to demonstrate the Department of Defense’s dedication to the peshmerga as they along with the other Iraqi security forces worked together with the global coalition to liberate the Iraqi people of ISIS terror.
“Since 2014, the U.S.-led coalition has supported Iraq’s fight against ISIS,” Wallander declared. “Together, we liberated more than 50,000 square kilometers from ISIS control, including critical infrastructure and population centers in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, freed more than 4.5 million Iraqis from ISIS terrorism, and provided our Iraqi-Kurdish partners with recovery and stabilization support.”
ISIS has ceased to be a threat to the territory, but it continues as a terrorist organization that is elusive to attack the people of Iraq and populations across the entire region. “The United States remains committed to supporting the Iraqi Security Forces, including the Kurdish peshmerga, to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS,” she added.
The updated memorandum serves as an organizing framework for the delivery of the defeat ISIS support to peshmerga — outlining DOD’s pledge to provide assistance as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government’s determination to maintain reforms to modernize the peshmerga forces.
U.S. forces remain in Iraq at the invitation of the government to advise as well as assist Iraqi Security forces. “We must continue to work together to protect the gains made against ISIS and set the conditions for the next phase of the fight by denying ISIS even the smallest opportunity to resurge,” Wallander declared. “This MOU will guide the Department of Defense’s future assistance to the peshmerga, which is a pillar of the department’s broader ‘D-ISIS’ partnership with the government of Iraq.”
“On this occasion, I want to offer my deep appreciation and respect for the tremendous sacrifices made by members of the peshmerga who gave their lives in the fight to defeat ISIS,” Wallander stated. “The United States is cognizant of the cost of victory to the peshmerga, and we are honored to be your partners — on and off the battlefield.”