WATCH: Trump must continue cooperation with Peshmerga against IS

President-elect Donald Trump should continue to cooperate with Peshmerga forces in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), according to a US professor.
kurdistan24.net

WASHINGTON, United States (Kurdistan24) – President-elect Donald Trump should continue to cooperate with Peshmerga forces in the battle against the Islamic State (IS), according to a US professor.

Andrew Bennett, a professor at Georgetown University, recently spoke to Kurdistan24 about the new US administration’s role in the current conflict in Iraq and the surrounding region.

Bennett explained it was important for the US to maintain “cooperation” with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces who he labeled the “most effective fighting force” battling IS.

“The US needs to keep cooperating in the fight against [IS], and I know the Peshmerga is a key player in all of that,” he told Kurdistan24.

The Georgetown professor also addressed the ongoing military operation in Mosul launched on Oct. 17 by Kurdish and Iraqi security forces.

“We’re in the middle of the campaign in Mosul right now that’s very important for defeating [IS],” Bennett continued.

Moreover, the professor urged Trump’s new administration to continue to work with the forces in Syria who are also fighting IS.

“We need to work both with the independent opposition groups within Syria and in Iraq as well to keep the pressure on [IS] on all fronts,” he explained.

Additionally, Bennett praised the Kurdistan Region for its sheltering of nearly 1.8 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees who continue to flee IS in Iraq and Syria.

Bennett also pointed to Trump’s desire to work closely with Russia in Syria and said it was a “worrisome” possibility because of Moscow’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

 

Editing by Ava Homa

(Rahim Rashidi conducted the interview in Washington, DC)