[size=30]Documents and information reveal the 'secrets of the lobbies' of the Kurdistan region in Washington over the past 12 years
[ltr]2023.02.08 - 19:36[/ltr]
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[ltr]2023.02.08 - 19:36[/ltr]
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Baghdad - people
A report published by the "Sassa Post" website revealed what it described as "the lobbies of the Kurdistan region in the United States of America", over 12 years.
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The report, which was reviewed by "NAS" (February 8, 2023), says, "The documents of the US Department of Justice show the continuation of the contract between the Ministry of Interior in the Kurdistan Regional Government and PASS Global Strategic Consultancy."
Following is the text of the report:
This contract, whose details were covered by “Sassa Post” last year, began on August 8, 2017, and is still ongoing, with payments amounting to one million and 780 thousand US dollars as of the moment of writing this report, and the company’s latest documents stipulated that the Ministry of Interior Kurdish is now negotiating a new contract.
The contract is supervised and signed by the Kurdish party, the same Minister of Interior, Karim Sinjari. The documents show that the two parties renewed the contract once in 2018 and once in 2020, and the company is still providing its services to the Kurdish Ministry of Interior until now, but it has not disclosed any new details about the activities provided since 2019.
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An image showing the signature of Karim Sinjari, Minister of Interior in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. The image is from the ministry's contract with Basis Global Strategic Consulting. Source: US Department of Justice website
From the beginning of March 2018 until October 2019, the company communicated several times with Congress, and arranged meetings for Kurdish officials with its members.
The contract is registered under the objectives of developing a strategy to deal with “the large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons,” and pressure on donors, whether countries or international relief agencies, and United Nations agencies, to “increase humanitarian participation in northern Iraq.”
We mention here another decade, in which the Kurdistan Regional Government employed the “Arent Fox” firm for law and political pressure, and this firm is known for its representation of international companies, politicians and major organizations around the world.
The relationship began on April 20, 2021, and the contract is still ongoing, with a total of $180,000 in payments until the end of April 2022.
The contract was signed by Bayan Abdul Rahman, as the representative of the region in the United States since 2015, and before that she was the representative of the region in Britain, and she is a member of the leadership council of the Kurdistan Democratic Union Party.
Bayan accompanies high-ranking Kurdish officials on their visits to Washington, and attends their meetings with members of Congress and with US officials, and the interests of the region are permanently represented in Washington, DC.
How did the company move?
The contract, with its declared objective in the documents, provides for the company to provide its advice to the Kurdistan government on legal issues and regarding the policies of the United States government in Iraq and the Middle East, with the company putting pressure on members of Congress and officials in the US government.
In the activities, we monitored the company’s statement that it provided the region with the aforementioned advice on government policies and the ongoing efforts to defeat ISIS, as well as with regard to Congress, including the “National Defense Approval Act – NDAA” legislation. The pressure of the Kurdish lobby intensifies annually with the approaching date of approval of this legislation. Which is one of the largest pieces of legislation that Congress oversees every year to approve the budget of the US Department of Defense and some other government agencies. In this legislation, part of the annual US military aid is allocated to foreign parties, such as the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Hence the importance of the law for the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.
The region appointed a new draft resolution
The company's activity in the first six months focused on supporting the "H.Con.Res.32" draft resolution, which "celebrates" the 30th anniversary of Operation "Provide Comfort", which the United States carried out with European allies in April 1991, as part of America's operations against Iraq. In the second Gulf War, the objective of the operation was to “protect the Kurdish areas in Iraq.” The decision "reaffirms the strong relationship between America and the Kurds."
Some American media recalled Operation "Providing Comfort" as one of the greatest American military operations in the twentieth century, during which a no-fly zone was imposed over northern Iraq to protect the Kurds from any air strikes from Saddam Hussein's regime, but this intervention was not complete. It is up to the Kurds to protect themselves from the regime forces in the field, and then the operation became a suitable model for military operations in which Washington relies on allies who are active on the ground in crises.
The sponsor of this decision is Republican Representative Michael Waltz, a member of the Armed Services Committee. He is a former officer in the US Special Forces, and one of the fiercest critics of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. An investigation by the American “Intercept” website revealed that Waltz benefited financially from the war, due to his ownership of shares in a defense company that obtained several contracts from the US government, including its training for US forces. Afghan security, and the investigation indicates that Waltz sold his stake in the company immediately before the Trump administration announced the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On the Iraqi issue, Waltz expressed his concern many times over the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, calling for the survival of a limited number of American forces to help America's allies, from the "anti-terrorism" forces and the Peshmerga in Iraq, to fight the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Waltz called on the Biden administration to target Iran militarily and directly, according to his statements to the Kurdish “Rudaw” network.
The documents show that the company distributed an e-mail message, on behalf of the regional government, encouraging the draft resolution, and praising the process of "providing comfort" and its results, saying that it saved hundreds of thousands of Kurds from Saddam Hussein's regime.
The letter expresses the Kurds' "gratitude" to the American leadership, and how Kurdistan has been safe for American soldiers since 1991, as well as becoming a haven for Yazidis, Christians and other religious minorities in the region.
Therefore, the letter concludes by urging members of Congress to pass the resolution, based on previous US efforts with the Iraqi Kurds.
The documents show that the company made extensive contacts for the regional government, including 13 phone calls with office staff of members of the House of Representatives, urging them to support the draft resolution, among the aforementioned members: Republican Representative Michael Cole, who is known for his positions in support of Kurdish fighters, and Republican Representative Jay Reshin Thaler, who In 2019, he was among those who sought to introduce a bill imposing sanctions on Turkey in response to its military campaign against the armed Kurdish factions in northern Syria.
To pressure in support of the aforementioned draft resolution, the company sent emails to five senators' employees, including the employees of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is known for her support for the principle of the withdrawal of American forces from Syria, provided that the plan is well studied, while preserving the security of the Kurdish forces there, and Senator Angus King. supporting these forces.
It is noteworthy that there are multiple Kurdish media platforms and Kurdish officials, who have published a ready-made petition with members of the US Congress, urging them to support the draft resolution with formulas similar to the aforementioned unified email message. Congress pushed for approval of the project.
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