LOC09:20
06:20 GMT
By Heather Yamour (news feature)
WASHINGTON, May 19 (KUNA) -- Behind the hand shakes and greetings, Iraqi
Kurds have set upon Washington in a quiet storm seeking support for a
three-way campaign designed to show, among other things, "the other face of
Iraq."
Kurdish leaders, staunch allies of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, are
seeking assurance from the Bush Administration that US troops will continue to
protect Kurdistan if violence seeps into its borders, while trying to combat
the American perceptions of Iraq's violence and instability, and appeal
towards US investors.
Kurds are considered the largest non-Arab ethnic minority in Iraq, with an
estimated five million people, about 20 percent of Iraq's population, mostly
concentrated in northern cities like Irbil and Suleimaniyah.
An estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds remain straddled between neighboring
countries, Turkey, Syria, and Iran.
The semi-autonomous secular Kurdish Regional Government has set up a
representative office, a couple blocks away from the White House, it has
enlisted strong lobby support from one of Washington's most influential
lobbying firms and launched a public relations campaign focused on tugging at
the heart strings of the American.
The Kurds tapped the shoulder of Qubad Talabani, son of Iraqi president
Jalal Talabani, to represent the Kurdistan Regional government in Washington,
a job that has sent him to all over the city to knock on influential doors
hoping to build momentum from Washington's political circuit.
He has met and been in contact with the White House, Congress and the State
Department to secure US protection of Iraqi Kurdistan in the event of an
invasion by neighboring countries, like Turkey, which has 50,000 troops staked
out on the Turkish-Iraq border hunting for PKK rebels sneaking into Kurdistan,
or by insurgent groups like Al Qaeda that claimed attacks beyond Southern
Baghdad's "triangle of death" to reach Kurdish cities, Irbil and Makhmur.
Talabani, the engineer behind the campaign, has said it is in the
"interest" of the US to protect the de facto autonomous region.
"All of our hard-fought gains will be jeopardized by a premature American
withdrawal," he said while painting a visual picture of Iraq disintegrating
into "far worse violence than what we are seeing today."
So far the Bush administration has not officially declared any commitments
to protect the Iraqi-Kurdistan region, preferring to stay mute in efforts to
avoid accusations of picking favorites among Iraq's various minorities.
To drive this point right across America's nose, the Kurdish Regional
Government has spent a more than a little pocket change; an estimated three
million dollars in campaigning and lobbying efforts in Washington and across
the country.
In 2005, the Kurdish Development Corporation, a "quasi-governmental
development wing" of the Kurdish regional government hired Russo, Marsh
Rogers, a public relations firm based in California, to launch a series of
30-second commercials, aired in the US coast-to-coast, advertising Kurdistan
as "the Other Iraq," describing the northern region as a stable hub for
investment and democracy.
The ad-campaign aggressively sought to dispose of American perceptions of
Iraq as violent and bloody, with IED's under every rock and maniacal insurgent
groups waiting behind every corner.
But although sectarian violence does wage in many parts of Iraq, in "the
Other face of Iraq" Americans can find booming industry and airports, with
multi-screen Cineplex's and, the Kurds say "thank you" to America forces in
Iraq and encourage tourism and trade between the US and the Kurds.
The Kurdistan Regional Government, led by Prime Minister Nechivan Barzani,
nephew of Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, set up elaborate plans to
appeal towards the west; plans include building mountain-top ski resorts and
opening an American university in Suleimani by 2008.
Last December, Austrian Airlines became the first European carrier to fly
regularly into Irbil, according to the ad-campaign website.
"Americans make decisions based on emotional judgment and there are few
stories as compelling as the story of the Kurds," Talabani said.
He likened the campaign in part to Kuwait's message of appreciation to the
Americans after the first Gulf War in the early 1990s.
"America is the world's only superpower today and their protection and
involvement," can preserve Kurdistan, Talabani told KUNA in an interview at
his office.
Talabani said plans are in the works for another public relations campaign
again aimed at the American people, but this time, it will try to garner
support for continued US protection for Kurdistan.
This comes as all eyes in Iraq are paying close attention to the back and
forth debate between Democrats and Republicans going on in Washington, about
the possibility of US troops withdrawal from Iraq.
"If people are committed to a democratic Iraq the strongest democratic
force today are the Kurds." Talabani said. Iraqi-Kurdistan is a "symbol of
moderation" in an ever radicalizing Middle East," he said.
In Iraq, the constitutionally recognized Kurdish army, the Peshmerga, has
been fighting alongside US and coalition forces in cities like Kirkuk and
Baghdad. Over 1,000 Peshmerga soldiers have been deployed to the Iraq-Iran
borders in efforts to stop the flow of weapons and support for Shiite militant
groups.
The campaign efforts in Washington have been far more fruitful, he said.
Since the fall of Saddam's regime with some help of one of Washington's
most powerful lobbying firms, Barbour Griffith and Rogers, the Kurds
successfully recouped 1.4 billion dollars of the funds believed were owed from
the highly controversial United Nations Oil-for-Food Program and although
efforts to tap into the 18 billion-dollars of US funds for Iraq were far less
rewarding the Kurds found governmental 'thumbs-up' to endorse US business in
Kurdistan.
In February 2007, Frank L. Lavin, Undersecretary of Commerce for
International Trade, flew into Irbil and promoted the region as a "gateway" to
retailers and businesses under the Iraqi Gateways Initiative, designed to
steer commerce to specific areas in Iraq considered safe for investment, and
point out Kurdistan as a bulls-eye for investors.
Along with the US Department of Commerce and International trade's stamp of
approval, the Kurdish Regional Government heartily shoved US businesses to
consider the 'land of the Kurds' as home with foreign investment laws, with
laws touting ten-year tax holidays and possibly land acquisition-the Kurds
hope to make them feel not only welcome, but cozy enough to stay a while. (end)
hy.rk
KUNA 190920 May 07NNNN