The United States and the Kurds of Iraq: Strange Allies

Abstract

The relationship between the US government and the Iraqi Kurds, beginning in the Cold War and continuing to the present campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been complicated. It is characterized by cooperation toward short-term US objectives while noticeably lacking consensus regarding Kurdish long-term goals. Despite Kurdish willingness to assist the United States, the United States has never adopted a policy designed to alleviate the tensions of the informal alliance. As viewed through an historical lens, the US posture toward the Iraqi Kurds is one of inertia and lack of directive from the highest levels of government. In the most recent conflict against the “Islamic State,” European countries have proven more willing than the United States to provide the Kurds the kind of assistance that might buttress their long-term goals of independence.