VIDEO: Kurds to receive more support from US, says Trump campaign adviser

[The Englishman]

PoliticsVIDEO: Kurds to receive more support from US, says Trump campaign adviser

 Mewan Dolamari 3 hours ago 0 comments

 

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Walid Phares, the top Middle East adviser of the US President Donald Trump during the presidential campaign in an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24, Feb. 9, 2017. (Photo: Kurdistan24)

 

Tag : Walid Phares Donald Trump US Washington Kurdistan Kurds Iraq Mosul 

 

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan24) – Not only the government but also the people of the Kurdistan Region are the allies of the US, former Trump adviser said on Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24, Walid Phares, the campaign adviser of the US President Donald Trump said that the battle against the Islamic State (IS) will be serious and very fast.

“There would be no abandoning of our friends, allies, and partners,” Phares stated.

He mentioned that the US allies would be part of the military operation in eradicating the extremist group.

“It is also going to be making sure that the people with whom we worked, including Kurds, Arabs, and other countries will be part of the process,” he continued. “So it is not just the fight against terrorism, but also a fight to rebuild the lives of these societies that have been destroyed by terrorism.”

The Adviser explained that the US would not allow the emergence of other extremist groups following the collapse of the so-called IS as the people who liberated their areas will protect their towns.

“When we remove ISIS, we are not going to have policies that would bring other jihadists or having other parties in the region such as Iran or other forces replace. We want the people who liberate their lands from ISIS to be in charge of their future,” Phares added.

He highlighted that President Trump is aware of the role of the Kurds in defeating the IS.

“President Trump during the campaign--if we go back to that because we have only two weeks of the administration-- has cited and mentioned the Kurds in every single foreign policy speech.”

According to Phares, Trump views the Kurds as one of the natural allies of the US.

“He realizes that the Kurds in general and those in northern Iraq, the KRG, and the population are our natural allies. They are natural allies not because of the government but as the civil society, and this is something that our next policy of Trump's policy is going to be taken into consideration.”

He pointed out that the Kurds have been fighting the extremist group on their own.

“There is no doubt also that we're going to increase the support to the Kurds of the KRG area, but then after that, we will stand by them as far as the future,” Phares concluded.

Peshmerga has been praised as one of the most effective ground troops in defeating IS. Since June 2014, they have liberated large swaths of territory in northern Iraq.

According to Peshmerga Ministry, over 1,500 Peshmerga soldiers have fallen while battling IS and about 10,000 more have been wounded.

 

Editing by Ava Homa
(Rahim Rashidi conducted the interview)

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