© AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File
That looming necessity is an unwanted development in U.S.-Iraqi relations, as a brewing conflict pits a critical American partner against the U.S.-backed central government of Iraq. The Kurds, an ethnic minority in the country, have been the most effective local fighters against the Islamic State for years, but their push for independence has united American allies and adversaries in opposition and led to violence in contested territories.
"I think we need to intervene," House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told the Washington Examiner. "I would want to go in there and do something because we don't want to see a massacre."
A senior Democratic lawmaker acknowledged that might be necessary. "I agree that we should do something to help the Kurds," New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "We should make sure there is no massacre and I think that if the last resort would be to send troops or safeguards, I think we should consider it."
The conflict isn't as simple as brokering a peace between the Iraqi government and the Kurds. It's complicated by Iran's influence over Shia militias that share religious ties with the Islamic Republic but have been legitimized by the central government in Baghdad. Those militias are playing a significant role in the fighting against the Kurds; one of Iran's most senior military commanders was on the ground helping coordinate the campaign to take the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from the Kurds.
Comment: "One of Iran's most senior military commanders" was essential in making sure there was little to no fighting! And it's the Kurds who originally took Kirkuk from Iraq and pushed out the non-Kurds. Get your facts straight, Gehrke.
"I think the Iranians are in there, trying to stir up problems," Nunes said.
Comment: Nope, that would be the Americans.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to counteract that dynamic over the last several days while traveling through the Middle East. "Iranian militias that are in Iraq . . . those militias need to go home," he said Sunday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office pushed back on Monday, calling the militias "Iraqis who have fought terrorism, defended their country and made sacrifices to defeat" ISIS. That statement was followed by a new round of militia attacks on Kurdish forces.
"This is spiraling out of control," Nunes said. "They're our longest ally there, so I have serious concerns about the stability of the Kurdish area."
Comment: With people like this, American foreign policy is hopeless. The Kurds aren't facing a massacre. But if they start a civil war, it will be of their own doing. With U.S. influence in the region waning and Turkey-Iran-Iraq-Syria all finding common ground, people like Nunes are getting desperate. But it's looking like putting all their eggs in the Kurdish basket might not have been the best play. Now all they can do is scream helplessly, "humanitarian intervention!" and hope someone will hear them. Good luck with that.