Peter Galbraith: ‘Kurdistan’s independence is inevitable’

Peter Galbraith, a former US diplomat and author who is also an adviser to the Kurdistan Regional Government, believes Kurdish independence is inevitable and that the Iraqi government cannot prevent it from happening in the long term.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from New York City on Wednesday, he argued that the takeover of Kirkuk by Iraqi troops served to simplify the case for Kurdish independence, not complicate it.

Iraqi troops and allied paramilitaries retook the northern province of Kirkuk and its lucrative oilfields on Monday and Tuesday, as well as formerly Kurdish-held areas in Nineveh and Diyala provinces – all outside the autonomous Kurdish region.

Iraq’s military says it achieved its objectives in a lightning-quick operation that saw troops sweep through disputed Kurdish-held territory in a punishing riposte to a secession referendum last month.