Posted on 11/11/2018 10:35:42 AM PST by Texas Fossil
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - On January 3, when the new US Congress takes office, Rep. Eliot Engel (D, New York) will become the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Engel is a long-time supporter of the Kurds. In 2014, he pressed the Obama administration as to “why the Kurds, as a distinct people, aren’t entitled to the same rights of self-determination the Palestinians enjoy.”
The following year, Engel backed legislation authorizing the direct US provision of arms to the Peshmerga.
And two years after that, Engel supported the Kurdistan independence referendum, issuing a statement on September 25, the day of the vote, in which he affirmed, “For decades, the Kurdish people have endured campaign after campaign of atrocities, so it’s no wonder that they seek self-determination to protect themselves in the future.”
After Iraq attacked Kirkuk the next month, in a military operation engineered by Qasim Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Engel strongly criticized the administration’s neutral stance.
Engel later spoke with Kurdistan 24, explaining, “I am very sympathetic to the Kurds,” whom he repeatedly described as US allies.
“Personally, just speaking for me, I think the Kurds are entitled to a country, a nation of their own,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kurdistan24.net ...
Typical Left/Right analysis applied to the Kurds are not very accurate. Where they are in the Middle East, simple survival is a lot more challenging than in the West. That affects views. They are pragmatic, and the ones I know hate abuse of power no matter the source.
Excellent. By appointing him, the Democrats have done something right for a change.
Sounds like he has the same opinion of the Kurds that I do.
I hope it works out well for the Kurds. - Tom
Engel is a religious Jew. He’s a Democrat in the Ed Koch mold, who called himself “a liberal with common sense.” Very few like him on that side now.
Thank you for the explanation.
I accept this as a positive thing. But don’t get too excited about going beyond intersecting points of interest.
If he is into pursuing the truth, more power to him.
Thanks.
I agree, with caution.
Thanks. I do too.
This article is written primarily with the Kurds in the KRG (in Iraq) in mind. Laurie, who wrote this, is in DC most of the time, but travels to Iraq too. She has reported on this region a long time.
K24 is controlled by the Barzani family.
Just for reference.
My focus is toward the Syrian Kurds. The are different from the Iraq Kurds. All Kurds are Kurds, some Kurds are more in tune with the West.
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