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Lobbying 2015: Iraqi Kurds to US: Don't forget, we were your friends first

The Kurdistan Regional Government has emerged as one of America’s best allies, but will its lobbying operation help it from falling prey to politics now that Iraq and Turkey are more fully engaged in the fight against IS?
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (C) walks with Minister of Peshmerga, Mustafa Sayid Qadir (R) and Falah Mustafa, Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Foreign Relations (L) as he arrives in Erbil, Iraq July 24, 2015. Carter arrived on an unannounced visit on Friday to Erbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region whose forces have emerged as one of America's strongest partners in the fight against Islamic State. REUTERS/Carolyn Kaster/Pool - RTX1LME5

As Iraq and Turkey finally take on the Islamic State (IS), America’s Kurdish friends are determined not to get sold out.

As the first bastion of resistance to last year’s IS onslaught, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its peshmerga fighters have a special claim to US support. However, recent battlefield gains by central Iraqi forces and Ankara’s entry into the fray are putting a damper on their dreams of independence.

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