The highlight of July 2021 was the fourth round of the US Iraq Strategic Dialogue and the meeting of Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi with US President Joe Biden.

Officials from the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdistan Regional Government took part in the Strategic Dialogue as part of the Iraq delegation led by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. The discussions covered energy efficiency, climate change, public health, higher education and culture, democracy and elections, and, of course, the security relationship.

Fawzi Hariri, Chief-of-Staff to the President of the Kurdistan Region, also took part in a bilateral meeting between Iraqi Foreign Minister Hussein and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Mr. Hariri described the strategic dialogue as ‘pivotal to the future of Iraq. By working together, we can prevent terror from raising its head again.’

The joint communique following the conclusion of the dialogue and Prime Minister Kadhimi’s White House meeting states, ‘The delegations decided, following recent technical talks, that the security relationship will fully transition to a training, advising, assisting, and intelligence-sharing role, and that there will be no U.S. forces with a combat role in Iraq by December 31, 2021. The United States intends to continue its support for the ISF, including the Peshmerga, to build their capacity to deal with future threats.’

The need for US and Coalition support, in the form of training, advising, and sharing information, was highlighted this month following a terrorist attack by ISIS cells in Baghdad, which killed and injured dozens. Kurdish security forces foiled a plan by ISIS to launch attacks in Erbil ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday.

This week, we will be marking three mass atrocities that took place against different communities in Kurdistan and Iraq. We honor all the victims and offer our condolences and solidarity to their families and communities.

On July 31, 1983, the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein singled out 8,000 boys and men from the Barzani clan, who were rounded up, killed, or made to disappear, simply because of their tribal and ethnic identity.

August 3 marks the seventh anniversary of ISIS’s genocidal campaign against the Yezidis in Sinjar and Christians and others in Nineveh. The United States Department of State in 2016 recognized ISIS’s acts as genocide, and in the past several weeks, the Dutch and Belgian parliaments have followed suit.

August 7 is commemorated as Assyrian Martyrs Day, marking the massacre at Semel in 1933, although it has come to symbolize other atrocities committed against the Assyrian, Syriac, and Chaldean community as well.

It is crucial that we remember the tragedies that took place, that we honor those who were killed, and support those who survived so that all our society can thrive and be at peace.

On a lighter note, Kurds around the world celebrated the addition of the Hawraman area of Kurdistan in western Iran to UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Hawraman is renowned for its mountains, traditional architecture, and distinctive culture and Kurdish dialect.

Representative to the United States

Kurdistan Regional Government

This month, the Kurdistan in America podcast is honored to host Mr. Rob Waller as our guest. Mr. Waller was the US Consul General in Erbil for one year from July 2020 and has just completed his assignment in Kurdistan.

He has previously served as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States in several capacities, including the Director of the Office of Iraq Affairs and as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran at the State Department.

Mr. Waller discusses his key objectives and achievements as the US Consul General in Erbil and the challenges that he experienced during his tenure. He also shares his views on Erbil-Baghdad relations, the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Sinjar Agreement, and his personal experience in the Kurdistan Region and thoughts about the people of Kurdistan.

US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller spoke with Rudaw's Roj Eli Zalla in Washington DC, discussing developments in the US mission in Iraq, the upcoming parliamentary elections, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), recently spoke with Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid about Iraq’s upcoming elections, the continuing threat of the Islamic State (ISIS), and Turkey’s conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

In this series, a panel of experts, including the Kurdistan Regional Government Representative to the United States, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, shared their views on the US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue and its impact on Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq.