Congressman Trent Franks introduces bill backing Kurdistan right to self-determination

I have basically been saying this ALL YEAR, and well anybody who keeps up with the area pretty much knew it too. This Representative from Arizona has put a bill there that could make a new Kurdistan and the USA very good friends. Whether Baghdad or Iran agree with this or not, it is clear that America plans on keeping this hatchling of a state under our protective wing for some time. And their yummy yummy oil .... ohh yea sweet sweet crude.

CNSNEWS
House Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), chairman of the International Religious Freedom Caucus, has introduced a resolution in support of the Kurds' right "to determine their status as a sovereign country."

The resolution, if it passes, would declare that "the United States recognizes the sacrifices, commitment to human rights, and legal and moral case for self-determination of the residents of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and that the residents of the KRI have the right to decide without outside coercion." Further, the United States "calls on the international community and domestic institutions to likewise recognize the right of self-determination of the people of the KRI."

Read that language very delicately, as there are hidden context within the words.

Rudaw
“Last night, I [introduced] legislation to convey Congress’ support for Kurds to determine status as a sovereign country,” he tweeted on Tuesday.
The longtime proponent of the Kurdish people expressed that Baghdad has failed to secure Kurdish rights and effectively protect the Kurdish people from members of ISIS and other violent forces.

“Thank God for the Kurds – they have delivered countless groups and individuals from the hands of ISIS. Without their armed defense of northern territory, and the protection of over 2 million refugees, the medieval horrors of ISIS could have been much more widespread,” Franks added.

The Chairman of the Missile Defense Caucus explained that “during the darkest days of the Iraq War, Kurdistan remained a sanctuary of order in the midst of sectarian chaos.”

He cited the protection of Iraq’s minority groups by Kurdistan, but encouraged them “to support the self-determination of other groups in the region, such as the Christians of the Nineveh Plain, the Yezidis of Shengal, and the Turkmen of Tal-Afar,” adding that Christians in the Nineveh Plains “may soon face a similar decision.”

He encouraged Kurds to lead by example.

“If the Kurds can show through their actions that their key ally is the United States of America, and they are neither an ally with the Islamist Sunni regime in Turkey nor an ally of the Islamist Shia regime in Iran, the United States will always gladly support them.”

Yes, of course I have the bill handy, what kind of investigator would I be if I did not provide as mush as possible??

H.Res.534 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)
Official Title as Introduced

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have the right to determine their status as a sovereign country.

Yes, this is all about oil this time. Yes, Rex Tillerson, our Sec. of State was very involved with making sure ExxonMobile had fluid access to the Kurdish oil market.

How private corporations will benefit from Kurdish independence
The Kurdistan region of Iraq, rich with oil resources, has been a bargaining chip for large oil corporations in recent years. Companies have flooded into Kurdistan because of a lack of regulations, relatively cheap oil, export subsidies, and a political willingness shown by the KRG government to cooperate with corporate demands. U.S. involvement in Iraq has been, for some time, shifting around this flow of capital in Iraq with the installation of permanent military bases in Kurdish territory. What is developing in Iraq is a nation that will almost certainly be partitioned, not for the intention of conquering Iraq in the classical sense, but to use Kurdish oil to force the government in Baghdad to loosen public control over its own resources...

ExxonMobil developed a genius tactic with the help of Ali Khedery, an Iraqi-American business mogul, to tap into northern Iraq’s oil, oil that fell under the banner of the Kurdistan Regional Government. At this time, the U.S. was opposed to supporting the Kurds on paper as it was pursuing other objectives in Iraq at the time. However, it is important to note that this shift towards the Kurds happened at the behest of important past and current officials. Despite reports at the time that the U.S. government was “furious” about Kurdish business ties, this was not actually true.

Ali Khedery helped ExxonMobil with this business deal while Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State of the United States, was the CEO of ExxonMobil. At the end of Tillerson’s career at Exxon, Exxon was openly criticizing what they describe as “Iranian influence” in making it harder for them to exploit the people and natural resources of Iraq. Exxon pulled out many of its operations in Kurdistan right before Tillerson took office.

Well then, what are the reactions from some of the regional leaders?

“Israeli flags won’t save you!”: Erdogan to Iraqi Kurdish separatists, Warns of ‘Ethnic War’ Risk over Iraqi Kurdish Independence

Interesting, just like Israel and Egypt/Jordan all over again eh? Mutual friends opposed to the creation of a new state on their borders, what could go wrong?

On Sunday, Iran closed its airspace to all flights to and from the Kurdish region at the request of the Iraqi government.

Tehran has advised against the “unilateral” scheme, underlining the importance of maintaining the integrity and stability of Iraq amid its ongoing war against Takfiri terrorist groups such as Daesh.
Iraq urges world countries not to buy oil from Kurdish region

Well, at least Israel is on board!

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a delegation of 33 Republican congressmen last week that he is in favor of an independent Kurdish state in parts of Iraq, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Netanyahu expressed his “positive attitude” toward a Kurdish state in the Kurdish areas of Iraq, saying the Kurds are a “brave, pro-Western people who share our values.”

edit on 9-27-2017 by worldstarcountry because: (no reason given)

Talk all you like.

Turkey will never allow Kurds have a free state anywhere..

a reply to: Pandaram

Plus, it would be problematic with Iraq.

Damn. That part of the world is complicated.
Who knew?

a reply to: Phage

Indeed. It is very sad to see... but fook it. Its a dog eat dog world. Its alwayes been.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

This is the logical next step.

Question is, for how long can we cound only Iraqi part for Kurdistan, and when the Syrian parts will be included into the bill.

But, Kurds deserve their home and country there is not a slightest doubt about that.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Unsurprisingly Trent Franks does relly on double-standards when it comes to consider which people should have right to self-determination :

GOP Congressman calls for permanent occupation

With Friends Like These… #72,349 in a series of 5,675,826

On the same Israel Project press call where Rep. Brad Sherman proposed prosecuting U.S. citizens aboard the Free Gaza Flotilla, his bi-partisan counterpart, Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, disavowed the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But unlike some calls for a single state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, Franks wasn’t supporting the notion of a secular democratic state of all its citizens. A staunch advocate of the Jewish state’s right to remain that way, Franks implicitly endorsed the permanent occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

a reply to: worldstarcountry
I don't know the details of the American constitution, but is foreign policy a Congress matter, or is it reserved for the Executive?

The EU is already fomenting war in the area of Kurdistan after the independence referendum.

See what I don't know for certain is whether Turkey and Erdogan are just playing the part like Trump and Kim, or if he is serious. If Turkey attacks Kurdistan it is attacking a sovereign state under US recognition and backing. SO is it all bluff, or are there plans to withdraw from NATO??? Perhaps this will be more akin to the 1998 NATO campaign in Czechoslovakia than the Arab counter attack to Israel 50 years prior to that? NATO state goes rogue, as to be reigned in by his peers maybe?