Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D., F.A.C.P.

Medical Oncology/Hematology Telephone: (215) 333-4900

Facsimile: (215) 333-2023

Smylie Times Building - Suite #500-C

8001 Roosevelt Boulevard rsklaroff@gmail.com
Philadelphia, PA 19152
October 21, 2017

Kurdistan Update

Prospects for a high-profile D.C.-meeting promoting unambiguous and aggressive

American support for an independent Kurdistan have considerably brightened;
reportedly, one congressman's foreign-policy advisor is brainstorming with colleagues
regarding what legislative route should be pursued. Life is too short for grand-standing
and, thus, the bcc-list of recipients of this e-mail has been amplified by people who may
be able to facilitate these efforts, despite the fact that they may have [1]abandoned
efforts previously, and/or [2]tried to own this initiative to the exclusion of other voices.

The five principles distilled in earlier memos have been approved by Sherkoh Abbas and,
therefore, are recapitulated; of course, suggested refinements/amplifications are invited.
Were a D.C. conference to be held, it would be based upon the necessity to amalgamate
them into a pivotal action-item, namely, to honor the Kurds against Iranian aggression;
clearly, the $150B that BHO provided the mullahs is being used to foment terrorism AND
to buy-off those who otherwise could serve as supporters of Kurdish Independence. Thus,
even if Baghdad acts miffed, America must assertively support the Peshmerga ASAP;
Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia may yelp, but they have-not/do-not/will-not promulgate
policies that are congruent with Americas acute/subacute/chronic interests.

Here are the five principles that must be co-adopted by individuals/groups forthwith:

1. America must endorse creation of an independent Kurdistan.

2. America must recognize it would be in Americas interest.

3. America must educate both the world and its citizenry that Kurds arguably
are the largest ethnic group lacking a homeland.

4. America must help Kurds establish safe-zones.

5. America must help educate the world that Turkey/Iran falsely claim that
Kurds aspire to establish revolutionary entities in these two countries.

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These e-mails have aggregated supportive data from myriad Internet sources that have
been aggregated this past week; the necessity to ensure MAGA encompasses a very
muscular foreign policy (absent nation-building) as applied to Kurdistan is in Gorka:

https://www.scribd.com/document/361996803/Kurdistan-Update-10-17-17
https://www.scribd.com/document/361993503/Kurdistan-Update-10-18-17
https://www.scribd.com/document/362082654/Gorka

Of the articles co-written with Sherkoh Abbas during the past a decade, two orient tersely:

https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2014/02/28/kurdistan-us-recognition/
http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=66533

An ongoing-resource provides updates in real-time, noting swiftly-moving events:

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan

Because yesterdays provision of this statement included a typo [of which its author has
been informed], it is reprinted; although it doesnt quite reach Independent Kurdistan,
Trumpsters must take-note of incremental messages [that Israelis undoubtedly reinforce,
quietly], for seeking neutrality has already been proven to be faulty [enabling Iranians]
as has ANY suggestion America should decrease its regional military presence:

Statement on the Kurds and Iraq

https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2017/10/20/statement-kurds-iraq/

The Jewish Policy Center views with great alarm the efforts of the Iraqi
government and its Iranian-supported militias to take territory from
Americas Kurdish allies in the northern part of Iraq. The Kurds have been
the most loyal partners of the United States military eschewing radicalism,
preventing an ISIS takeover of Kirkuk, and rescuing thousands of Yazidi
civilians from certain death in the mountains of Sinjar. Kurdish forces fought
ISIS valiantly when Iraqi regular forces proved unequal to the mission.

The United States has done an excellent job of restoring the ability of the
Iraqi army to take the fight to ISIS. However, fighting along with the forces
of the Government of Iraq are forces loyal to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Those Iranian-sponsored militias, largely the result of the American
withdrawal of fighting forces in 2012, are intent to provide [not of providing]
an avenue for the expansion of Iranian influence and military capability
through the territory of Iraq, across Syria and through Lebanon.

The Jewish Policy Center urges President Trump to use what influence the
United States has with the Government of Baghdad to end the military
campaign against the Kurds and enter into political dialogue that offers the
only real hope of a peaceful Iraq for the future.

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The Jewish-linkage has been conveyed orally/in-writing in various ways, emphasizing
both that [1]Jews should welcome re-establishment of Kurdistan (just as Eretz Yisrael
was re-established in 1948), and [2]Israelis should recognize that Kurds function as
their canaries in the coal mines (just as Israelis have played that role for Americans
while Sunni [Islamic State] and Shiite [Iranian] Islamists have targeted America/Israel).

Dramatizing this concern is an eerie piece just disseminated by Algemeiner [which is a

reliable web-site, even if it employs West Bank terminology instead of Judea/Samaria]:

Fall of Kirkuk to Iranian-Backed Forces Is Wake-Up Call to Israel, Kurdish General Says
https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/20/fall-of-kirkuk-to-iranian-backed-forces-is-wake-
up-call-to-israel-kurdish-general-says/

For any number of reasons, the necessity to recognize shifting alliances is mandated:

Turkey Is Behaving like an Enemy Now

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/turkey-behaving-enemy-now

Because the following piece hasnt yet arrived on-line, it is being disseminated in-full;
Joseph Puder was a co-author of the JPC-piece cited supra (having been recruited
because his being a registered-Democrat offset my being a registered-Republican [!]);
functioning also as Phillys Stand with Us contact, he writes for FrontPage Magazine:

AMERICA MUST DEFEND KURDISH RIGHT TO INDEPENDENCE

If the U.S. allows the Kurds to be defeated, the entire region will take notice
of U.S. abandonment of an ally in time of need.

By: Joseph Puder

October 20, 2017

Iranian supported Iraqi-Shiite militias along with the Iraqi army have
converged on Kirkuk, bringing the oil-rich city under Baghdads control. A
fresh new conflict in Iraq is ready to erupt, and it will test the U.S.
administrations commitment to its allies, especially the Kurds. The Kurds
have been loyal and supportive American allies. The fresh conflict will
confirm whether the Trump administration is merely high on bluster but short
on action, or conversely, that it is true to its word regarding support for its
allies, and countering Irans imperialistic and terroristic ambitions.
Suppressing the Kurdish aspirations for independence, which includes
Kirkuk, would place the U.S. on the side of Iran and Turkey, who along with
the Shiite Iraqi government and the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, have
ganged up against the Kurds.

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Kurds comprise a majority in Kirkuk. Saddam Hussein, the brutal Iraqi
dictator, removed Kurds from the oil-rich city and settled them in Southern
Iraq. He then settled Arabs in Kirkuk in order to alter the demographic
balance. When, in 2014, the Shiite-led Iraqi army folded in the face of ISIS
attacks and left Kirkuk, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces entered the city and
have occupied it since. Kurds resettled by Saddam Hussein in Southern
Iraq, have since returned to the Kirkuk Governorate.

While the Iraqi army and its Iranian supported Shiite militias, as well as the
Kurdish Peshmerga battled ISIS, the issue of the future of the oil-rich
Governorate was not contested. As ISIS has been defeated and cleared
out of northern Iraq, Erbil based Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has
carried out a referendum on independence that included Kirkuk. The
question of who will control Kirkuk is critical. For the Kurds, Kirkuk provides
economic viability. And for the Baghdad government, Kirkuk is about
keeping Iraq whole. Masoud Barzani, President of the KRG, pointed out at
a speech in Kirkuk that, Kirkuk is a Kurdistani city which should become an
example for the coexistence of nations and religions. The Baghdad
government has responded to the KRGs overwhelming vote for
independence in the September 25th referendum, by banning international
flights to and from Erbil.

The U.S. is caught in what might amount to an impending civil war between
Erbil (capital of the KRG) and Baghdad. In the meantime, the Islamic
Republic of Iran has moved their Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to the
border with the KRG. Reuters reported (October 2, 2017) that Iran
deployed a dozen tanks supported by artillery at its border with Iraqs
autonomous region on Monday, a Kurdish official said, adding that the move
was a dangerous escalation in the crisis triggered by Iraqi Kurdistans
independence vote. Also, the Iraqi Defense Ministry has said that it
planned to take control of the borders in coordination with Iran and Turkey.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, addressing the escalating tension in

northern Iraq, declared that, These are issues that are longstanding in
some cases, were going to have to recalibrate and move these back to a
way where we solve them politically and work them out with compromised
solutions. Mattis added, My forces are integrated among these forces and
they're working to make certain we keep any potential for conflict off the
table.

To deter Tehran, Ankara and Baghdad forces from initiating hostilities

against Erbil, Washington policymakers must issue a simple statement that
would declare that the U.S. will back its partner (the Kurdish Peshmerga)
that is being attacked. It appears more than likely that Turkeys Erdoan,
and Irans Rouhani will urge Iraqi-Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to
move against the KRG. {Two minor typos were fixed, Erdoan and Shiite.}

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A U.S. statement, warning would be aggressor against initiating hostilities
would provide the KRG with long overdue recognition as a loyal U.S. ally
since 2003.

The focus on defeating ISIS has prevented the U.S. from giving close
attention to the larger picture playing out in the region. The Trump
administration is finally opting to focus on Irans imperialistic ambitions and
terrorist actions, also understood as seeking to materialize the dream of a
Shiite Crescent. Tehrans destabilizing moves throughout the region has
also been recognized by the Trump administration. The U.S. is similarly
more cognizant of Turkeys negative moves, and its support for its Islamist
allies in the region, including Hamas in Gaza.

With ISIS on the ropes, Washington must begin to reexamine its relationship
with the Shiite-run Iraqi government of Haider al-Abadi. State Department
officials are deceiving themselves in the belief that they can pry Baghdad
away from Irans orbit. Given the power of the Popular Mobilization Forces
(loyal to Iran) within Iraq, the likelihood that Baghdad will be swayed by the
U.S. to move away from Iran is unlikely. This amounts to U.S. taxpayer
dollars wasted on a client/ally of Iran, and a U.S. enemy.

The Baghdad government has made a mockery of the Iraqi constitution,

which meant to unite Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Instead, Nuri Al-Maliki,
Iraqs previous Shiite Prime Minister, alienated the Sunnis to the degree
that they chose to welcome ISIS. Shiite Baghdad also alienated the Kurds,
who had no other recourse but to opt for independence. It is therefore time
for Washington to end its One Iraq Policy.

Kurds constitute the largest ethnic minority in the world without a state.
Having been cheated out of an independent state in the aftermath of WWI,
the Kurds have been suppressed by their Arab, Iranian, and Turkish
neighbors for over 100 years. In helping to defeat ISIS in the battlefield
through the sacrifices of their sons and daughters, the Kurds have earned
the right to assert their national independence.

Kurdistan would be a reliable American ally in a hostile region. It would also

serve as a buffer against Iranian expansionism. An independent Kurdistan
with Kirkuk within its borders would reduce Europes dependence on Russia
for energy. For the liberal democracies of the West, an independent
Kurdistan may finally usher another democracy (besides Israel) into the
region, and a potential source of economic and social progress in the Middle
East. If however, the U.S. allows its staunch ally, the Kurds, to be defeated,
the entire region will take notice of the U.S. abandonment of an ally in time
of need. The remaining U.S allies in the Middle East will hasten to
recalculate their relationship with Washington.

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 The Trump administration must not repeat the blindness of previous
administrations in adhering to the One Iraq Policy. Kirkuk is at the heart
of the conflict between the Kurds and the Baghdad-Ankara-Tehran axis.
History will judge America on whether it supports the Kurdish peoples right
of self-determination, or seeks to appease the likes of Erdoan, Rouhani,
and al-Abadi. In the name of justice, fairness, and our democratic values,
America must defend the Kurdish right to independence.

Although suffering from an acute URI, Sherkoh was succinct during his interaction with
Jerry Gordon [on-line @ https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x65btor {@ 25:00].

Sherkoh Abbas President of Kurdish National Assembly of Syria

(KURDNAS) and Jerry Gordon a Senior Editor of The New English Review
(NER) teamed-up on i24News Crossroads [on 10/19/2017 @ 6:30 p.m.].

The segment focused on what options Kurds have following the forced
withdrawal from Kirkuk by Iranian - backed Iraqi Shia al Shaabi Popular
Mobilization Units and Iraqi National Army armored units. They used US
equipment in the ejection of Kurdish Peshmerga forces originally supplied
to fight the Islamic State.

The confrontation that occurred on Monday October 16th was triggered by

the objection of the Baghdad government of Premier Haidar al-Abadi to the
Kurdistan Independence Referendum on September 25th.

Kurds feel outraged by the betrayal of certain members of the Talabani

family and the neutral position taken by the Trump Administration.

Those actions contributed to the loss of vital oil resources and fully 40
percent of territory gained by the Kurdish Regional Government in defense
of a 600-mile-long front in Iraq created in the rout of the Iraqi National Army
in 2014 that fled the advancing Islamic State blitzkrieg.

Kurdish Peshmerga suffered 2,000 killed and 10,000 wounded engaged in

defeating the Islamic State in Iraq. {This rewrite updated verb tenses, once
the podcast site was unearthed; its only ~10 minutes long, but the viewer
is invited to assess the entire segment, because it elucidates key-facts that
served as the basis for arguing in favor of US involvement ASAP.}

ANYONE who doubts the urgency of the situation is invited to recognize two key military
tells regarding what has transpired. First, Iranians infested the invasion and, second,
Americans were tagging-along, their presence having been strategically invoked by the
Iraqi/Iranian generals to disarm Kurds, both mentally and physically from resistance.
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