Today we proudly showed Generals Jay Garner, John Abizaid, and other distinguished, former American military leaders, the progress made in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Seventeen years ago, General Garner and then Colonel Abizaid were deployed to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to deal with an international humanitarian catastrophe.
Iraqi forces, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, brutally suppressed the Kurdish uprising in 1991. Millions of Kurds were forced from their homes and into Kurdistan’s mountainous borders with Turkey and Iran. The vivid images displayed across news networks like CNN forced the international community (United States, UK and France) to act in order to prevent this calamity from spiraling beyond control.
Operation Provide Comfort, established by the UN Security Council Resolution 688, worked to bring the Kurds back down from the mountains and to restore order in Iraqi Kurdistan. Garner and Abizaid led this effort—restoring order and providing essential humanitarian services to the many displaced people. The Kurds were able to return to their homes and begin building the foundations of a fledgling democracy.
Today, the heroes of 1992 returned to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). They witnessed first-hand the remarkable progress—socially, politically and economically. Moreover, after talking with Kurdish leaders like President Barzani and Speaker of the Parliament Adnan Mufti, it was clear to everyone involved that none of the successes that Kurdistan sees today would have been possible without that most noble intervention.
To those heroes, and to the thousands of others who not only protected us during the 1990s—through the no-fly zones—but also led the effort to liberate Iraq from the worst kind of dictatorship, we once again say thank you.
While much progress has been made in KRI, we remain concerned about Iraq as a whole—as were starting to see dangerous trends emerging from certain elements in Baghdad. Such trends include reneging on previously agreed upon principles of power sharing, governing by consensus and adhering to a democratically-ratified constitution.
These trends, combined with a lack agreement on a national revenue sharing formula and proper checks and balance within the Iraqi security services, could easily reverse all that has been gained in Iraq during the past 12 months.
It is therefore imperative that the U.S. remain committed to supporting and building upon the great achievements of the Kurdistan Region, and remain strategically engaged at the federal level to ensure that the many outstanding issues get resolved before a complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.
We are hopeful that visits to the Kurdistan Region, such as we saw today by decorated American heroes, will demonstrate what can be done in Iraq when people of shared values and principles work together to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. Our American friends today saw the fruits of America’s sacrifice in Kurdistan, and they—like us—were very proud.
