I don't work for the State Department so I'm not completely up to date, but i dont think this in line with US foreign policy.
My limited understanding agrees with your statement, I think this has been the DoS policy since we entered back in 2003. I remember Secretary Rice being very stern about Kurdistan staying under the Iraqi flag post Saddam.
Kurds believe that Kirkuk is theirs, which helps them with its oil supplies for sure. But yes, I don't think relying on their limited oil supply in the northern part of Iraq is going to give them enough of a budget to run a country. As far as exporting goes, they will have major issues with the bordering states (Turkey being the only one that would buy any oil, but oil and water don't mix), then again, the Kurds want parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria as well. They certainly need access to open waters for exporting and that is no easy task, Syria and Turkey won't easily give up any piece of the Mediterranean Sea shoreline.
Kurds believe most of the middle East is theirs, I think their claims are irrelevant as various groups have controlled the area at different times. There were times were the Turks (Ottomans) held control, and times when the Persians controlled it.
I wouldn't really want the Kurds to win, just to be powerful enough to give IS, Turkey, and Iran the run-around.
Yes, but their claim to those parts is based on the population that's living there at the moment. The majority of West Azerbaijan providence and Kurdistan providence in Iran are Kurdish. Same is true for southern Turkey and norther Syria; they have had northern Iraq since the 1980 war. It would be fair (used loosely) to support their claim to those parts as none of Syria, Turkey, and Iran are friends of ours. Turkey is a wolf in sheep's clothing. At least we can count on Kurdistan as a true ally with a great strategic position then.
What makes you say this? Given that both Talabani and Barzani are state enemies of Iran and both their families were forced out of Iran, this comes as a bit of news to me.
could you elaborate a bit? There are multiple political groups active within the Iraqi Kurdistan that are struggling for some sort of control, is this what you are referring to?
Yes, that is the war. There were some Kurds who were helping Iraq too, but many of the pro-Iran Kurds escaped and turned against Iran at the end of the war and settled in the northern part of Iraq.
Yes, but times have changed just as we were allies with Saddam during that war. The Ahmadinejad regime changed that relationship, which was weakening in the 1990's. PAK is one of Kurdish groups that has been against the Iranian regime for years, they are active in Iran even though a lot of their forces are fighting ISIS right now. To Dismiss all Kurds as Iranian proxies is not wise, at times of war, people do befriend enemies.
Completely true, sorry.
