Kurdish Iraqi Foreign Minister fears U.S. Withdrawal Will Lead to Iraq's Breakup

In an interview with Reuters on July 1, Hoshyar Zebari warned that if U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq prematurely, the country will break up. "The country would disintegrate, literally, practically. Every group would go back to its community or to its sect or ethnicity and then we would really have a divided country without a central government to keep it together," Zebari said. He also warned that without the presence of a strong and cohesive Iraqi security force, a premature withdrawal of U.S. troops would create a massive security vacuum that would be exploited by terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda. "Al-Qaeda and terrorist groups would really find a safe haven, find a better base than Afghanistan in terms of the culture, the location, and proximity to other interests in the region," he added. Moreover, Zebari said the presence of U.S. forces represents a deterrent to a Turkish invasion into northern Iraq to battle Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters. "I believe had it not been for the presence of the multinational forces, the Turks could have easily moved in. The same applies to other neighbors who have territorial ambitions," Zebari said. He declined to identify those "other neighbors." SS