02-02-2010
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg Rudaw - Dennis C. Blair, the director of US national intelligence, testified Tuesday at a congressional hearing about threats to US security. He said Iraq will be able to secure a path, if the Iraqi government manages Arab-Kurdish tensions and integrates the Sunni Arabs. Blair also mentioned the ability of the Iraqi Security Forces to combat threats to the state. Blair mentioned that the upcoming March parliamentary elections and the August 2010 withdrawal of US combat forces – ‘will be important indicators of the new government’s ability to adapt, as well as manage and contain, conflict’. But he said that Arab-Kurd tensions have potential to derail Iraq’s generally positive security trajectory, including triggering conflict among Iraq’s ethno-sectarian groups. “Many of the drivers of Arab-Kurd tensions—disputed territories, revenue sharing and control of oil resources, and integration of peshmerga forces––still need to be worked out, and miscalculations or misperceptions on either side risk an inadvertent escalation of violence,” Blair testified. The intelligence chief thinks US involvement is necessary. “US involvement—both diplomatic and military—will remain critical in defusing crises in this sphere.” Recently the Kurdistan Regional President Barzani visited the US and met with the US administration leaders. The US officials told the Kurdish delegation that the US will remain engaged and help the political forces in Iraq overcome their differences. In January the US launched a strategy of manned checkpoints by the Iraqi army, Kurdish peshmerga, and U.S. soldiers in the disputed regions of Diyala, Mosul and Kirkuk. These joint operations are meant to help ease tensions between Baghdad and Kurdistan, as well as improve security. © Rudaw
