‘Supporting Kurds necessary to defeat IS’

WASHINGTON, United States (Kurdistan24) – A United States National Security Policy expert said that supporting Kurds is important in defeating the Islamic State (IS), during an interview last week.

Alex Ward, the Associate Director at Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, spoke to Kurdistan24 about the current US policy on the war with IS and how that may change after the upcoming elections.

Ward explained that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton may take an “aggressive” approach, with more US troops on the ground, while Republican Donald Trump says he will continue to “bomb IS a lot.”

“It is unclear as of right now what each candidate would do, but clearly Iraq, and [IS] especially, is of interest to both,” Ward stated.

Additionally, Ward explained that although neither presidential candidate has mentioned Kurdish independence in their campaigns, they need to support the Kurds in the fight with IS.

“If both candidates truly care about defeating [IS] they’re going to need to support Kurdistan militarily and financially, and so I believe that will continue,” the Associate Director stressed.

“As of right now, Kurdistan independence has not been a foreign policy issue in this campaign,” he added.

According to its official website, the Scowcroft Center “aims to produce cutting-edge analyses and to develop strategies for how the United States can best work with like-minded countries to shape the future.”

Editing by Ava Homa

(Kurdistan24 team in Washington conducted the interview)