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
Lebanese Ministry of Health: One person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the town of Burj Qalawieh, south Lebanon.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The first ship of the Maghreb fleet delivering aid to break the siege on Gaza departs from the port of Gammarth in Tunisia.
Channel 12: Airspace closed at Ramon Airport due to fears of drone infiltration
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded over an aircraft infiltration in the Bir Ora area, and details are being examined
Drone infiltration sirens sound north of the Gulf of Aqaba
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out five extremely violent raids on the western areas of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza: The Israeli occupation carried out major bombings in the Gaza Strip, the most violent since October 7
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree: The missile force carried out a major operation using the Palestine 2 ballistic hypersonic missile, hitting several targets in occupied Yafa.
Sirens sound in large areas of occupied Palestine after a missile launch from Yemen was detected
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: 14 martyrs arrive at al-Shifa Hospital following Israeli massacre of al-Sultan Family north of Gaza.

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

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 27 Mar 2023 15:25
  • 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

US, China to resume talks in Madrid; tariffs, TikTok on agenda

China warns Philippines against provocations in South China Sea

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

The damaged building in the Katara neighborhood, Doha, Qatar, September 9, 2025 (Social media)

Hamas delegation survives Israeli assassination attempt in Qatar

  • Politics
  • 9 Sep 2025
Israeli police and rescue teams respond at the scene of a shooting attack where several people killed and injured in Jerusalem, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 (AP)

Al-Quds shooting: 7 settlers killed, several critically injured

  • Politics
  • 8 Sep 2025
Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

Pro-'Israel' far-right Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, on Friday, September 27, 2024 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' stops unfunded diplomacy ahead of UN, October 7 memorial

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet releases flares over the Gaza Strip, is seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

OIC summit draft: Israeli attack on Qatar risks normalization

People shout slogans and hold Palestinian flags while protesting during the twenty-first stage of La Vuelta cycling race from Alalpardo to Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (AP)
Sports

Pro-Palestine protests force abrupt end to Vuelta a España finale

Damage is seen after an Israeli strike targeted a compound that hosted Hamas' political leadership in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli regime faces growing isolation over Qatar strike: Reports

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