Iranian-Backed Forces Attack Kurds near Mosul

JERUSALEM, Israel – The Kurdish Regional Government said Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias attacked Kurdish positions near Mosul early Thursday. The Kurds are not only fighting a military battle for survival but also diplomatic and economic isolation.

The military campaign in western Iraq follows the Kurds recent losses in the strategic oil-rich province of Kirkuk just days ago, which struck a severe economic blow.

It has inestimable impact in economic terms – that is to say that around 50 percent of the oil production, the oil capacity of the Kurdish Regional Government – was located in the Kirkuk province area. That's all gone now.

Turkey and Iraq Conspire

The Kurds are also facing united opposition by their neighbors. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Albadi met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss an oil pipeline that would bypass Kurdistan. This move would intensify the economic stranglehold on the Kurds.

Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias are deeply involved in the military campaigns against the Kurds. They stand accused of using U.S. weapons, such as the M1 Abrams tank, in their battles against the Kurdish people. In light of the military campaign and diplomatic isolation, many Kurds feel abandoned by the West.

"The United States and Europe were very disloyal [toward the Kurds] because they made the Kurds fight Da'esh [Islamic State] instead of themselves," said Kurdish Iraqi citizen Hidyat Shikhani. "They had our Peshmerga [Kurdish fighting forces] killed and injured and after all that, they turned their back on us. We lost all our faith in the United States, in Europe, in everyone."

Former U.S. diplomat and author Peter Galbraith, who serves as an advisor to the Kurdish Regional Government, told CBN News after the Kurdish Referendum for Independence, the U.S. is backing the wrong side.

"The U.S. position has been to oppose the referendum, to insist on the unity of Iraq and to insist on the unity of Iraq under a government in Baghdad that is Iran's closest ally in the world," Galbraith explained.

"That created a militia, which is commanded by Gen. Qasem Soleimani. This is largest military force in Iraq. The Iranians want Kurdistan to be under the control of Baghdad because they control Baghdad," he said.

Diplomatic Tightrope

Since the referendum, supported by 90 percent of the Kurdish population, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been walking a diplomatic tightrope between two U.S. allies.

"We have friends both in Baghdad and we have friends in Erbil (the capital of Kurdistan) and we encourage both parties to enter into discussion and dialogue," Tillerson said. "I think if both parties commit themselves to a unified Iraq, to the Iraqi constitution, I think all differences can be addressed, and the rights of all can be effected and Iraq can have a very secure and a prosperous future."

But some believe it's time for the United States to make a choice.

"Let me be clear," Republican Sen. John McCain wrote. "If Baghdad cannot guarantee the Kurdish people in Iraq the security, freedom and opportunities they desire – and if the United States is forced to choose between Iranian-backed militias and our longstanding Kurdish partners, I choose the Kurds."

It remains to be seen if the U.S. administration will make that choice. In the meantime, the situation for the Kurds grows more precarious by the day.