Kurds, US Continue Alliance to Fight ISIS

Despite Trump’s gross abandonment of our Kurdish allies, the Biden administration is recommitting to the fight against ISIS.

Assistant Defense Secretary Celeste Wallander met with Iraqi leaders this week to reiterate the 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, an assistant secretary of international security issues has also signed an updated memorandum of understanding with Shoresh Ismail Abdulla, the Kurdistan Regional Government minister of peshmerga affairs, on Sept. 21. The agreement provides mutually agreed parameters for the next 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 leaders of the defense sector. Wallander emphasized the long-term relationship that exists between both the United States and Iraq and spoke about ongoing efforts to improve the capabilities of the Iraqi police forces. She and Iraq’s defense officials considered expanding collaboration between the two countries beyond counterterrorism to tackle emerging threats , and to improve collaboration and interoperability.

Wallander then travelled 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 she signed on behalf of the Department of Defense continues the crucial relationship with the peshmerga that dates through the first 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 told the crowd at the ceremony to sign the memorandum in Irbil.

The current enemy has become the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The terror group emerged from the ungoverned regions of Syria in 2014 and overwhelmed forces arrayed against it. The Department of Defense first signed an MOU with the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2016, when ISIS had vast swaths over Iraq in order to demonstrate DOD’s support for the peshmerga in the course of how they as well as other Iraqi security forces joined the international coalition to free 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 is no longer a territory, but it continues as a terrorist organization that is elusive that targets the people of Iraq and the 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 new memorandum provides an organizing framework for the assistance to combat ISIS support to peshmerga — outlining DOD’s pledge to provide assistance and the Kurdistan Regional government’s commitment to continued reforms that modernize peshmerga forces.

U.S. forces remain in Iraq at the invitation of the government to advise, assist and enable 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.”