Manafort Working on Kurdish Referendum Opposed by U.S.
Source: The New York Times
Paul J. Manafort, the former campaign chairman for President Trump who is at the center of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, is working for allies of the leader of Iraqs Kurdish region to help administer and promote a referendum on Kurdish independence from Iraq.
The United States opposes the referendum, but Mr. Manafort has carved out a long and lucrative career advising foreign clients whose interests have occasionally diverged from American foreign policy. And he has continued soliciting international business even as his past international work has become a focus of the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into ties between Russia and Mr. Trump and his associates, including possible collusion between them to influence the presidential election.
In fact, the work for the Kurdish group appears to have been initiated this summer around the time that federal authorities working for Mr. Mueller raided Mr. Manaforts home in Virginia and informed him that they planned to indict him.
While the Kurdish referendum, scheduled for Monday, is nonbinding, the American government and the international community have expressed serious concerns about it. They fear that, if it passes overwhelmingly, as expected, it could further destabilize Iraq, damage the coalition fighting the Islamic State, and potentially spark violence in disputed areas.
Read more: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/politics/manafort-kurdish-referendum.html
BigmanPigman
(51,584 posts)in the cradle. Sick, sick asses, all of them!
fountainofyouth
(409 posts)Who sold out on behalf of Turkey so completely, he tried to get a U.S. Legal Permanent Resident kidnapped. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/325698-flynn-discussed-how-to-whisk-away-cleric-wanted-by-turkey-report
roomtomove
(217 posts)supporting the Kurdish independence may be a good idea. It will certainly upset the Turks and the Iraqis, but in the long run it may actually stabilize the area if it can be pulled off without violence, and be an economic boost for that part of the world.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Remember the mainstream press excoriating Biden for saying that Iraq should become three countries (Sunni, Shia, and Kurd)? A lot of blood and treasure could have been saved had we heeded Biden back then.
Manafort is a strange bedfellow, but that does not make the cause of Kurdish independence any less right.
-app
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,338 posts)... then violence is assured. The Turkish government would not stand for that, especially under Erdogan.
Since Turkey is a U.S. ally, that might explain our reluctance to help the Kurds with their desire for their own country.
rollin74
(1,973 posts)Manafort is a dirty piece of shit but I hope the referendum passes by a wide margin
the United States is wrong to oppose it