U.S., Kurdish officials discuss Peshmerga reform in inaugural committee meeting

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Senior officials from the U.S. government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) met on Monday to assess progress on the KRG’s Peshmerga reform program. 

Joint Statement on the Inaugural Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee Meeting Between the Department of Defense and Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Peshmerga Affairshttps://t.co/38cmmfa7pS pic.twitter.com/At8SDSQbox

— Kurdistan Region Presidency (@KurdistanRegion) January 30, 2024

The event marked the first meeting of the Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee.

A joint statement, issued on Tuesday by the two parties–the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Kurdistan Region Presidency–explained that the committee “met to assess progress on Peshmerga reform objectives,” as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was renewed by the DoD and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA) in September 2022. 

Read More: KRG, US sign renewed MoU to continue to support Peshmerga against ISIS

Indeed, that MOU was first concluded in 2016. Masoud Barzani was President of the Kurdistan Region. Barack Obama was President of the United States. It followed the battle against ISIS, which began in 2014, when the terrorist group emerged out of Syria’s civil war and burst across the border into Iraq, seizing one-third of the country. 

U.S. forces, which Obama had withdrawn from Iraq, were obliged to return. They worked first with the Peshmerga, and then with the Iraqi Security Forces more broadly, to drive ISIS out of the country. As part of that process, an MOU between the Pentagon and the MoPA was concluded in September 2016 and  renewed in 2022.

Enduring US Commitment to Fighting ISIS 

The inaugural meeting of the Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee, which took place in Erbil, occurred two days after the first meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC) in Baghdad. 

On Sunday, Treefa Aziz, the KRG Representative in Washington, advised Kurdistan 24 that the renewal of talks between the U.S. and Iraq in the HMC framework for the purpose of discussing future security relations between the two countries “is not something new.” 

Aziz, thereby, helped to dispel the notion, promoted in Baghdad, that the HMC discussions aimed to secure the withdrawal of U,S. forces from Iraq. 

Read More: US, Iraq talks on transition to security bilateral relations ‘not something new’, says KRG envoy

John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications, reinforced that point the following day. Speaking about the U.S. troops killed in a drone attack in northeast Jordan, Kirby affirmed they “were conducting a vital mission in the region, aimed at helping us work with partners to counter ISIS,” adding, “even as the Defense Department gathers more information about the attack, that mission must and will continue.”

Read More: US: Anti-ISIS Fight Continues; Iran Behind Lethal Drone Attack

Inaugural Peshmerga Executive Steering Committee Meeting

The DoD-MoPA joint statement issued on Monday explained that the Committee had reviewed the progress in Peshmerga reform and agreed upon milestones for the next year. It affirmed that this was “part of the shared long-term commitment to unify Peshmerga forces under the [MoPA] and build a professional, capable force to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

“The MoPA has made significant progress towards financial and force structure reform, and both the DoD and MoPA look forward to the continued advancement of reform efforts outlined in the 2022 DoD – KRG MOU,” it continued. 

“The United States stands with the people of Iraq, including the people of the Kurdistan Region, as they build a strong, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” it concluded.

The Peshmerga reform program is also supported by other members of the US-led coalition, particularly the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. The goal of the program is to unify key elements of the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) under the MOPA’s command. 

Unifying and modernizing Peshmerga forces is at the core of the reform program of the current Kurdish government. 

Editing by Laurie Mylroie