State Department focused on aiding Mosul IDPs
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan24) – Joseph Pennington, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq, recently discussed the US’ policy toward Iraq and the Kurdistan Region with Kurdistan24.
He explained the current focus for the State Department in Iraq was to prepare for the large number of people who are expected to flee western Mosul when the offensive against the Islamic State (IS) there begins.
Pennington affirmed the US “has supported strongly the humanitarian effort throughout Iraq, including especially the Kurdistan Region, where many of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) have fled.”
“We are especially focused now on those displaced families who are coming out of Mosul, many of whom are being blocked by [IS], being shot at by [IS], as they try to escape and making sure that they have a place to go and that they are safe,” he said.
Pennington added, “We hope and expect that in the coming months, as the liberation (of western Mosul) moves forward, we can get those families back to their communities pretty quickly.”
This senior diplomat, however, was constrained in saying much about the position of the new administration. Although Rex Tillerson, who formerly headed the Exxon-Mobil oil company, was recently confirmed as Secretary of State, a Deputy Secretary of State has yet to be appointed, and other high-level positions remain unfilled.
“As far as Iraq is concerned,” Pennington explained, “there have been no significant departures” in US policy “so far.”
“But everything is under review,” he added. “The new team will, first of all, get its personnel in place in key positions and take a look at the policies as they are now,” before making any decisions, he said.
Pennington was Consul General at the US Consulate in Erbil for two years (2013-2015) before assuming his current post.
Those years represented a crucial time for the Kurdistan Region, including in its relationship with the US and other western countries. It was then—in August 2014—that IS suddenly burst out of Mosul to threaten the Kurdistan Region and areas beyond. The war against IS that followed laid the basis for unprecedented and enduring cooperation between the Peshmerga and the anti-IS coalition, including the US military.
As Pennington explained, many aspects of the foreign policy of the new administration remain to be worked out, but he did offer this assurance, “We are determined to maintain and continue our partnership with Iraq and with the KRG.”
Editing by Delovan Barwari
(Interview conducted by Rahim Rashidi)