Former Obama National Security Adviser says US must help Kurds in Iraq, they're our best friends in the region, best hope of putting Iraq back together-Politico

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8/10/14, "Former (Obama) national security adviser: U.S. must help Kurds," Politico, Caitlin Emma

"Former National Security Adviser James Jones said on Sunday the U.S. must come to the aid of the Kurds if Iraq will ever have a chance of being put back together.

The Kurdistan Regional Government is categorized as a Tier III terrorist group under the Immigration and Nationality Act, but that's "ludicrous," the retired general said on CNN's "State of the Union." 

"The Kurds are our best friends in the region, and we can't let Kurdistan fall" to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIS].

The U.S. also has the capacity to deliver more humanitarian aid to help the Yazidi population, Jones said. Providing the aid is low-risk to the U.S., he said, and the U.S. has mastered the art of precision dropping.

"We have enormous capacity to drop as much as we need to," Jones said.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said the U.S. military mission in Iraq has made the country look good and boosted morale for the Kurds, but it's time for President Barack Obama to take his leadership one step further. Iraq can't be helped by the U.S. alone, he said, and Obama has to make the case for internationalizing the effort."


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