Table Of Content. is Director of the Program on Peace-building and Human
DAVID L PHILLIPS
Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He has
worked as a senior advisor to the United Nations Secretariat and as a foreign
affairs expert and senior advisor to the US Department of State. He has held
positions as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for Middle East
Studies, Executive Director of Columbia University’s International Conflict
Resolution Program, Director of the Program on Conflict Prevention and Peace-
building at the American University, Associate Professor at New York
University’s Department of Politics, and Professor at the Diplomatic Academy
of Vienna. He has also been a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Council
on Foreign Relations’ Center for Preventive Action, Senior Fellow at the
Atlantic Council of the United States, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, Director of the European Centre for Common Ground,
Project Director at the International Peace Research Institute of Oslo, President
of the Congressional Human Rights Foundation, and Executive Director of the
Elie Wiesel Foundation. His previous publications include An Uncertain Ally:
Turkey under Erdogan’s Dictatorship; The Kurdish Spring: A New Map of the
Middle East; From Bullets to Ballots: Violent Muslim Movements in Transition;
Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco and Unsilencing the
Past: Track Two Diplomacy and Turkish–Armenian Reconciliation. He has also
authored many policy reports and writes regularly for publications including the
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, International Herald
Tribune, and Foreign Affairs.
“This excellent work by David Phillips has broadened the canvas of failed
American policy by exposing the darkest period of our national honor in this
new century. The Great Betrayal accurately portrays how our government
treacherously delivered to Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, our only pro-American ally in a
region of Iranian dominance. In October 2017 the US President promised to get
tough on Iran and to roll back their influence in the region. Immediately
following that announcement, the administration stood paralyzed as the Iraqi
Army, commanded by Iran’s leading general, Qasem Soleimani and supported
by both Iranian and Hezbollah militias, overwhelmed the Kurdish Peshmerga in
Kirkuk. Consequently, our nation’s cowardly policy has allowed Iran to extend
their dominance from Tehran to the Mediterranean, a reach they have not
achieved since the Medo-Persian Empire. Furthermore, it signals to both friends
and enemies that America can no longer be considered a trusted and dependable
ally. This book should be required reading for all government officials!”
Jay Garner, Lt General (ret), US Army
“The Great Betrayal is well-researched and written about the tragedy that has
befallen the Kurdish people. The only real friend of the United States and the
West, they fought and died with US forces fighting ISIS, yet, when they were
attacked, both in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Afrin, the US declared, ‘we don’t take
sides’, thus emboldening the Shi‘ite militias and the Jihadists in Syria. A must-
read for anyone interested in Middle East geopolitics.”
Najmaldin Karim, Governor of Kirkuk
“The Great Betrayal tells how the Trump administration sided with Iran’s top
general and a terrorist convicted of blowing up an American embassy against the
Iraqi Kurds, America’s most loyal ally in the fight against ISIS. Like so much of
Donald Trump’s presidency, this story—well told by long-time Iraq expert
David Phillips—wouldn’t be believable if it weren’t also true.”
Peter W. Galbraith, first US Ambassador to Croatia
from 1993 to 1998 and author of The End of Iraq
“This is not a work of detachment—David Phillips makes that clear from the
outset. But one does not have to agree with all his premises (I do not) to find
great value in this book. Phillips has compiled an extraordinary amount of
research that he weaves into his well-written narrative. It will be of great value
to policy-makers, pundits and historians alike—as well as to general readers
seeking a better understanding of a complicated situation. As for the Kurds,
spread among four countries that unite in opposition to an independent nation,
they objectify the hard truth noted by Ernest Gellner many years ago: in this
world, there are more nationalisms than nations.”
Ryan C. Crocker, former US Ambassador to Iraq (2007–2009)
“A must-read for those who want to understand why the Kurds play such a key
role in the future of the Middle East.”
Bernard Kouchner,
French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs 2007–10
Published in 2019 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London • New York
www.ibtauris.com
Copyright © 2019 David L. Phillips
The right of David L. Phillips to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will
be rectified in future editions.
References to websites were correct at the time of writing.
ISBN: 978 1 78831 397 1
eISBN: 978 1 78672 576 9
ePDF: 978 1 78673 576 8
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Text design, typesetting and eBook by Tetragon, London
To my recently deceased father, Lawrence S. Phillips, who was
a champion of social justice.
This book is also dedicated to breaking the cycle of betrayal and
abuse that has afflicted the Kurdish people.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Glossary of Personalities
Foreword by Richard Engel
Introduction
Part I: Tragic History
1. Sovereignty Denied
2. Victims of the Cold War
3. Crackdown
Part II: Struggle
4. Self-rule
5. Dysfunctional Iraq
6. A Perfect Storm
Description:The twentieth century saw dramatic changes in the once Kurd-dominated Kirkuk region of Iraq. Following the discovery of oil at Baba Gurgur in the 1920s, Kirkuk became a central priority for successive Iraqi rulers. In the 1970s and 1980s plans for Kirkuk to be the capital of an autonomous Iraqi Kurd
