Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: One was killed, another injured in a raid by an Israeli drone on the city of Khiam in South Lebanon
London views possibility of setting fire to tanker in port of friendly country to Russia to damage port infrastructure, initiate an international probe: Moscow
One of London's scenarios involves setting up accident with 'undesirable' tanker in one of the bottlenecks of maritime communications: Russian foreign intelligence agency
London plans to organize major sabotage with tankers to declare transportation of Russian oil to international shipping: Russian foreign intelligence agency
UK intelligence agencies plan to use NATO allies to launch massive raid on 'Shadow Fleet': Russian foreign intelligence agency
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Two were martyred in Israeli shelling that targeted a besieged house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin
At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off Yemen: IOM
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.

US interested in independent Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq has failed: Bolton

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 27 Mar 2023 16:25
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

This is a reminder of when the Bush administration started supporting the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) immediately after invading Iraq. 

  • x
  •  National security adviser John Bolton at the White House in Washington, DC in July 2019 (AP)
    Former National Security Advisor John Bolton at the White House in Washington, DC, in July 2019. (AP)

During an interview with the Kurdish Rudaw news agency on Saturday, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton expressed interest, on behalf of the US, in an independent Iraqi Kurdistan. 

“I think an independent Kurdistan is in the interest of the United States. It’s hard to define exactly what its boundaries would be. But I think the state of Iraq has failed. I think certainly Kurdish territories in Iraq could be the basis of a new independent country," he said.

This echoes when the Bush administration started supporting the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Masoud Barzani, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) - immediately upon invading Iraq. 

The KDP and the PUK are the uncontested ruling parties of Iraqi Kurdistan, and have been so since its inception as an autonomous region in the 1990s. The governorates of Dohuk and Erbil fall under the rule of the KDP, while Sulaymaniyah is controlled by the PUK - as both parties are responsible to set the policy of each of their controlled areas.

The US supported the three parties because they created three ethnically different regions in Iraq which could weaken the Iraqi government: A Kurdish region in the north, a Shia region in Baghdad and the south, and a Sunni region in the West.

'Borders are drawn with blood'

The Kurdish parties inserted Article 140 into the new Iraqi constitution in 2005 to annex Kirkuk - home to massive oil reserves and so-called disputed territories including Sinjar. The effort failed two years later, but when ISIS invaded Mosul, the Kurds got a second chance at trying. 

Related News

Trump ties US states' disaster funding to support for Israeli firms

Russia ends self-imposed ban on INF-class missile deployments

As soon as the Iraqi army withdrew, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces tried to take Kirkuk, which increased their oil reserves from 4 billion to 13 billion barrels and helped them obtain the intrinsic base needed for Kurdistan to become an independent state.

Read next: US subtly warns Iraq after ban on Iraqi Kurdistan oil, gas exports

However, French academic and Iraq expert Pierre-Jean Luizard sees the Kurdish annexation as non-accidental, saying Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani made a pact with ISIS to divide the territory.

Shortly afterward, Peshmerga forces withdrew from Sinjar and the Nineveh Plain, which gave space for ISIS to invade and thus massacre thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar and capture thousands of women and girls as sex slaves.

Masoud Barzani then declared that “Article 140 has been applied. The borders are drawn with blood!”

Read more: Exclusive: Terrorists' positions totally destroyed in Kurdistan region

The oil in Kirkuk immediately started being sold to Turkey to then be transferred to Israeli buyers to export to "Israel". By the time 2015 rolled around, Kurdish oil accounted for 77% of "Israel’s" oil imports.

Here's where the US actively comes in. A referendum for the independence of Kurdistan was announced in 2017 by Barzani, which Bolton showed strong support for and which Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu directly supported in turn.

Regarding the oil exports, just this week, exports of nearly 400,000 barrels per day to Turkey have been stopped due to a ruling by an international court of arbitration that it violated a bilateral treaty. As a result, that impeded the goal of the Kurdish factions in obtaining autonomous control of Iraqi Kurdistan's oil sector and raised doubts about whether oil companies in Kurdistan would be able to continue producing and selling oil unless an agreement with Baghdad is reached moving forward.

  • United States
  • Iraqi Kurdistan
  • Iraq
  • John Bolton
  • US occupation of Iraq
  • US
  • Kurdistan

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
Protesters chant anti-Israeli slogans as they carry a banner that reads:" Freedom for Palestine, Alliance stop the war," during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens, Monday, June 9, 2025 (AP)

Athens mayor slams Israeli ambassador over Gaza war, graffiti claim

  • Politics
  • 3 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS