Iraqi Kurdish officials describe 'different country' after Mosul
Two top Iraqi Kurdish officials, speaking in Washington, say Iraq is divided between an Islamist state, a democratic Kurdistan Region and a 'failed government' in Baghdad.
An Iraqi Kurdish delegation said they are hearing “more and more understanding” of Kurdish aspirations for greater sovereignty in the aftermath of the radical Sunni Arab seizure of much of western Iraq.
Speaking on July 2 before a packed audience at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of the external relations department of the KRG, said the Kurdish administration would not rush toward outright independence — which is still officially opposed by the United States and Iraq’s neighbors — but would no longer accept restrictions imposed by the Baghdad government.
