The following derives from spoken comments at an event the Middle East Forum hosted today for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Philadelphia (with slight edits):
You heard a strong case in favor of [the Kurdish referendum]; I'd like to make a case against it.
I favor Kurdish independence, I hope they're will be a great Kurdish state. But I don't think there's any reason for this referendum six days from now. The timing is obvious, because of political changes in Iraq and Erbil.
But I worry that this referendum will lead to war, will lead to trouble. The Middle East has enough of it. The KRG, the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq, is a haven of peace and stability, and economic development. I wish they wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize that, and I very much worry that the Turkish and Iranian governments, perhaps also the Iraqi federal government, are getting together and are going to take action against the Kurds of northern Iraq. So, they should wait.
I do not disagree with the goals, but I disagree with the tactics.
(September 19, 2017)
