Key US Senator, CENTCOM nominee-commander hail Masoud Barzani, Peshmerga

"The Iraqi Kurds are among our most reliable partners in the region."
US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla was nominated to succeed Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie as head of Central Command (CENTCOM) in a Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday (Photo: Screengrab from hearing)
US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla was nominated to succeed Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie as head of Central Command (CENTCOM) in a Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday (Photo: Screengrab from hearing)

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan24) – "I've visited many, many times our friend Masoud Barzani—many times over the years," Sen. James Inhofe (Oklahoma), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee stated, as he addressed Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla (US Army).

Kurilla has been nominated to succeed Gen. Frank McKenzie (US Marine Corps) as head of Central Command (CENTCOM), and the Senate Committee held a nomination hearing for Kurilla on Tuesday.

"The Iraqi Kurds are among our most reliable partners in the region," Inhofe said, as he proceeded in his remarks to Kurilla, "and I believe it's important to ensure continued and reliable support to our Kurdish friends, in coordination with the Iraqi government."

Inhofe also stressed the importance of US backing for the Peshmerga.

"Continued and reliable support to the Kurdish Peshmerga would enhance our partnership and advance our mutual interests in the region," he said, before asking Kurilla, "Can you share some insight on the value of our partnership with the Kurds, based on your personal experience, because you have had that personal experience?"

Indeed, Kurilla served in each of America's three wars in Iraq: Desert Storm (1990-91), which drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait but ended with Saddam Hussein still in power, despite President George H. W. Bush's expectation that Saddam would be overthrown in a military coup.

It was followed by Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-11), which ousted Saddam's regime but failed to establish a stable political situation.

A mere three years later, in 2014, US forces were obliged to return to fight the terrorist group ISIS, which burst out of Syria amid the chaos of that country's civil war, and proceeded to seize one-third of Iraq, threatening Erbil, as well as Baghdad. Most likely, historians will see those three wars as one extended conflict.

"I've worked with our Kurdish partners and found them to be very reliable and very capable," Kurilla said as he responded to Inhofe's question.

"I've worked with them since 2004, on my first tour in Iraq, and as recently as the Counter ISIS fight in 2014," he stated. "I have found them to be an incredibly capable and reliable partner.

Kurilla is currently commander of the 18th Airborne Corps. Last week, troops from the 18th Airborne began deploying to Germany as part of US measures to reassure NATO allies of its support in the face of Russian belligerence over Ukraine.

McKenzie, who assumed his position in March 2019, is scheduled to step down on April 1. Kurilla's hearing proceeded smoothly, and it is expected that he will be confirmed without problem.