I hope Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi got rid of whichever one of his people set this thing up: “Remember....whoever comes to you with this Barzani meeting, he’s the traitor,,,,don’t forget that!”
I know that both families are corrupt at some level. Barzani possibly more than Talabani.
Al-Abadi is now a tool of the Iranian Mullahs. For whatever reason. Like most of them, it might be money. (like mafia but worse)
It was explained to me by some of my ME friends who are “aware” that some of the Talabani tribe are good soldiers and always defending the Kurds no matter what. And no signs of personal corruption. Jalal Talabani was revered by almost all in Iraq, he was most respected by the Syrian Kurds as well as the Iraqi Kurds.
I have from multiple sources that both Talabani and Barzani top leaders have previously met privately with Iranian military. One of my friends in US is really upset over this, my take is just the meeting does not mean collusion. Although, I’m told that even in Lebanon, all factions meet regularly and have made deals that usually are not in the best interest of that country. Like our own government now, it is a snakes pit in Beirut much worse than in DC. I’m old enough to remember when Beirut was called the jewel of the Middle East. Now it is Hamas and Hezbollah haven. I remember when the elected but not installed president of Lebanon, Bachir Gemayel was assassinated. All that makes Lebanese Christian somewhat crazy, it rubs of from the Arabs and the Muslim Jihadi’s.
I had a good friend who was from a Lebanese Christian family, he worked for my father in law for quite a while. At the time I met him, I was trying to understand the mess in the Balkans. We had some interesting discussions about that part of the world, which mirrors what is happening in the Middle East today. My friend is dead now, has been for at least 10 years. Still miss those conversations. He stayed in Europe after WWII because of his language skills and had incredible real life stories of dealing with the Christian/Muslim divide in the Balkans and in the Middle East. I’ve know some very interesting people over the years.