|
Letter to US Ambassador Jeffery
13.1.2012
By Rizgar Khoshnaw, Washington DC - Exclusive for ekurd.net |
|
|
|
United States Ambassador to Iraq
James Jeffrey
January
13, 2012
Dear Ambassador Jeffery,
On July 10,2011, you and Deputy Secretary of State
Thomas Nides officially
opened the U.S.
Consulate General in Erbil, Kurdistan. In attendance
at the ceremony were Mr. Massoud Barzani, Mrs. Hero
Talabani, Barham Salih, Arshad Tawfik, Ismet Ageed,
along with Ministers and Members of Parliament,
civil society representatives, media and business
leaders.
In remarks during the ceremony, You said,
“It is our fondest wish that a strong and vibrant
Kurdistan Region within a democratic and federal
Iraq arise from the tragic history of this region.
Our goal is to build an Iraq for all its citizens...
Arabs and Kurds, Sunni and Shia, Christian and
Muslim, Yezidi and Shebak, one that respects all its
citizens and one which is governed by the rule of
law.”
Furthermore, you said:
Today’s event also marked a celebration of the 235th
anniversary of U.S. independence. Noting the date,
“I believe there is no better place to celebrate our
Independence Day than here in a partner country
fighting for its democracy” you said.
Reading your statements above, my questions are: Why
did you not say anything when people, Kurdish
citizens in Kurdistan, came out in
protest of the
KRG in Sulaimaniyah demanding their rights and to
stop corruption? Why did your office kept quite when
the Kurdish government openly
assaulted, and
killed, some
demonstrators? Is that the democracy that you are
talking about?
What worries me most about most American politicians
and military individuals that are working, and have
worked in the past, in Iraq, and especially in
Kurdistan, that they tend to "resign" or "retire"
once these people meet certain Kurdish politicians
within the KRG!! This makes most Kurds in Kurdistan
think that our American politicians do NOT really
care about democracy or helping the Kurds but
rather, these Americans are thinking about their
best interest and what they will do after leaving
their current posts with the US government!
Allow me to give you some names and examples of some
Americans that "retired" or "resigned" their
position with the US government and went to work,
advice and assist the KRG directly and indirectly.
Furthermore, some of those individuals work with
some close "friends" of the KRG,www.ekurd.net
Here are some names that the KRG has rewarded very
handsomely:
1- Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Iraq
2- Jay Garner, former director of office of
reconstruction and humanitarian in Iraq in 2003
3- Colonel Richard Naab
4- Lt. General Ron Hite
5- Harry Schut. US Army veteran Also worked with the
CPO in 2004
6- Peter Galbraith (according to what I read, he
profited $95 Million by introducing DNO oil to KRG)
7- General John Abizaid (served in the US army for
more than 37 years)
Having said that, I must admit and be fair, that the
KRG does NOT always reward anyone and everyone with
lucrative contracts and positions that has worked
for them directly or indirectly. Take me, an
American citizen, for example. I spent that last
fourteen years helping Barzani and the KRG, directly
and indirectly in many ways, and I got absolutely no
where! So, it is not always the case for all
Americans to benefit from knowing/helping the KRG.
There are many more such individuals, but no reason
to mention any more. I think I made my point. I hope
and pray that your office can take the time to look
into helping the Kurdish citizens and just think of
their personal future gains. I have lived in the US
for the past 35 years and I know that the Americans
are extremely fair and reasonable people and would
like to see this reputation to continue and not be
marred by a hand full of greedy/selfish Americans
that are working in Iraq and Kurdistan.
Cordially,
Rizgar Khoshnaw
Washington ,DC
Rizgar Khoshnaw, Washington, DC, he has lived in
the US for the past 35 years. He attended North
Carolina State University for a period of six years
and obtained the degrees in Economics, business
management and two years of Pre-Medical. He began to travel to Kurdistan fourteen years ago after being
absent from Kurdistan for more than 23 years. from
the first visit in 1997 to 2001, He traveled to
Kurdistan 25 times to investigate the oil-for-food
program and wrote a book (and had over 50 articles
published) about the dishonest program. In the past
eight years, he has been representing an American
based company trying to implement certain projects.
Copyright © 2012 ekurd.net. All rights reserved
Top |
The opinions
expressed in this commentary are solely those of the
author
|