Analysis: It's Time For America To Support An Independent Kurdistan

Kurdistan has long been the most friendly place outside of Israel for the U.S. in the middle east. We share core values of freedom and equality and could form a bond that could last for decades.

U.S. policy towards Kurdistan has always been grey. While we've always supported Kurdish security and upheld a solid relationship we still lack a formal policy towards their independence. We continue to support a United Iraq which is more and more becoming fantasy rather than reality.

Our allies in Baghdad play both sides of the field. They respective and appreciative when it suits them and they are in dire need of American support. At the same time they will coddle up to Iran and talk Ill of our support. While we continue to ship arms and advisors to Iraq and they are using American tanks and Howitzers they yell to the media that we are not doing enough.

The Iraqis even with their new prime minister are a sectarian mess. The army is not prepared or willing to stand on their own. So while they enjoy the benefits of U.S. arms, Intelligence and air power they still are divided on the ground by sectarianism with their Shia militias backed by Iranian forces and Hezbollah terrorists. Their own policy and government is so controlled by Iran now that they don't know how to speak for themselves. When they are embarrassed on the battlefield they say America isn't doing enough. When they have some rare success they say that it was thanks to Iran and that they don't need the U.S. .

While the Iraqis claim that Kurdistan is Iraqi territory they neglect to protect and secure it. They hold back tax revenue and salaries from Kurdish workers and they control the arms shipments sent to Kurdistan via Baghdad. Kurdish Forces have bled and sacrificed to secure Iraqi cities in the north. They've had their families destroyed and their women and children kidnapped and sold as slaves. Meanwhile as the Kurdish Forces secure territory and continue to defeat ISIS in the same cities that the Iraqis ran from, the Shia militias are threatening to waltz in and take control of these Kurdish towns. They are threatening to engage Kurdish Forces if they do not pull back to Erbil.

It's time the U.S. stand up for their only true allies in Iraq. The Kurds have shown over and over that they are capable of running a prosperous and free state. They're capable of defending their people from external enemies that fester right under the nose of the Iraqi government. They treat all of their citizens as equals and continue to maintain a bustling economy despite fighting a war for their survival.

The U.S. needs to wake up and support a free and independent Kurdistan. It's clear that they are our only real allies in Iraq. We could benefit tremendously from this relationship as could the Kurdish people. They've stood by our sides and assisted us in any way possible during our various engagements in the region. They stand strong in the face of terrorism and share our visions and values.

From northern Syria to northern Iraq the American people support Kurdistan! Let's do the right thing and support their independence.