The curse of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan
Commander Kamal Kirkuki swung open the large wooden doors to reveal a conference room. It was a war room, really. There was a long table and plush leather office chairs, maps with pins, a projector. A Chinese-made surveillance drone rested in the corner. Kirkuki is a slender man, wearing traditional Kurdish clothing. He is unassuming […]Commander Kamal Kirkuki swung open the large wooden doors to reveal a conference room. It was a war room, really. There was a long table and plush leather office chairs, maps with pins, a projector. A Chinese-made surveillance drone rested in the corner.
Kirkuki is a slender man, wearing traditional Kurdish clothing. He is unassuming in his mannerisms yet he holds one of the highest positions on this battlefield in northern Iraq. He is a top officer in the Kurdish military, known as the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga is an essential American ally in the ground war against ISIS.
His team is in charge of the city of Dibis and its surrounding villages. Dibis is just 80 miles southeast of Mosul. It is part of Kirkuk province and has been controlled by Kurdish forces since the Iraqi army’s northern divisions retreated in June 2014. This region is the epicenter of the war against the terrorist organization in part because it is the site of some of the largest reserves of oil in Iraqi Kurdistan. ISIS has used the oil it controls here to help finance its operations worldwide.
