 We are delighted to welcome everyone to this morning's discussion on the future of Iraq. Please allow us to give a very special welcome to US Ambassador Matthew Thuler, to Iraqi Ambassador Fareed Yassin, and to the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Dr. Bayan Sami Abdul-Rakman. We're honored to have you with us this morning to share your perspectives on the path ahead for US-Iraqi relations and recent developments in Iraq. We would also like to express our gratitude to the US Embassy in Iraq, the Embassy of Iraq in Washington, and the Kurdistan Regional Government representation for their partnership with this work, and a bowl of the things that we do in Iraq. And a very special welcome to Ambassador Thuler who is joining us from Baghdad. USIP is very proud of our efforts over many years in Iraq, which have focused on bridging agreements between local communities, preventing violence, and helping to lay the groundwork for the safe and voluntary return of Iraqis who have been displaced by conflict. We're particularly proud of the work that we've done with our partners on the ground to help forge reconciliation agreements in some of the communities that have been hardest hit, including to Crete, Hawija, and Telepar, and of our support to religious and ethnic minority communities as they recover from the devastation left behind by ISIS. This is a pivotal year for all of us, and particularly for Iraq. There will be national elections in October. The social and economic impact of the pandemic continues to be felt across the country, demands for better services and then into corruption continue. Tensions within the country and the region more broadly must be addressed, and the ongoing threat of ISIS cannot be ignored. The visit of Pope Francis earlier this month was historic. It was a wonderful moment when the world again remembered and celebrated Iraq's deep and very rich religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity in that spirit. We're so pleased that we have the chance this morning to reflect together on the direction of the relationship, partnership, and cooperation between the U.S. and Iraq. It's in that spirit that we're very pleased to turn over to Dr. Saham Hamasayid, who is the director of our programs there, and he's going to introduce our panelists and moderate our discussion before we do that. If we can encourage everyone to engage with us on Twitter with the hashtag What's Next Iraq? Dr. Saham. Thank you, Lisa, for your remarks and your thoughtful insights. Good morning, good afternoon, depending on where you are. My name is Saham Hamasayid, I'm director of Middle East programs here at USIP. It is truly an honor for me to moderate the discussion with our distinguished panelists. To start off, we will have a remarks by Ambassador Tullar, followed by Ambassador Yasin, and then representative Abdul Rahman. We've asked each one of them to speak for about seven minutes, and then we will go to a moderated discussion, including questions from the audience. We invite our viewers to take part in this event by asking questions through the comments section on the live stream on the USIP website. And you can also engage with us and each other on Twitter through the hashtag What's Next Iraq? My colleagues will collect and send your questions to me, and I'll do my best to get to as many of them as possible. Lisa highlighted some key issues in her remarks as it relates to Iraq and the bilateral relationship between the United States and Iraq. To unpack one, where would Iraq fit in the Biden administration's priorities? What would that mean in practical terms? How would tensions with Iran affect the US- Iraq relations? President Biden knows Iraq well. Would that translate into more emphasis on Iraq or other factors like domestic, regional and global forces or issues force a different direction? These would affect the calculation of many actors. Our speakers are serving in the front lines of diplomacy and working the issues that affect answers to those questions. Similar to peacebuilding, people are at the center of diplomatic work, and I believe that our speakers not only serve in their roles with distinction, being who they are and how they served in their roles has made a positive difference during testing times. We will start the panel with our first distinguished speaker, Ambassador Matthew Tuiler, US Ambassador to Iraq since 2019. Prior to that, he served as Ambassador to Yemen, Ambassador to Kuwait, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Cairo, just to name a few junctures in his rich diplomatic career. Ambassador Tuiler, great to have you with us for your first and hopefully not the last event of the US-IPS Iraq program, and the floor is yours. Well, thank you very much and good morning, good afternoon everyone. I'd really like to thank the United States Institute for Peace for inviting me to speak with you today. In particular, I'd like to thank and greet US-IPS President, Lisa Grande, with whom I've had the opportunity to serve on the front lines of diplomacy before, and then, of course, Dr. Sarhang Hamasahid. Thank you very much for the invitation and for moderating. And, of course, I'd really like to extend warm greetings and thanks to Ambassador Yassin, represented by Ana Abdel Rahman, for joining me today on this important discussion. But perhaps I should begin by wishing everybody a happy Nairuz, particularly to those celebrating in Iraq and throughout the world. This is such a wonderful time to mark the beginning of spring, a new year, and to reflect on the past and march forward with hopes for something that we all expect to be newer and perhaps a sweeter season of life. Similarly, of course, a new US administration brings fresh eyes to all challenges, and we're fortunate in our system in the US that every four or eight years we get to have a new set of eyes looking at all challenges, particularly those right now facing Iraq and the region. And these eyes bring fresh lenses to some of the challenges we face. But, of course, there will be continuity, because US interest in this vital region and this vital country will not change. As I speak to you today, we're less than a week past the anniversary of the appalling criminal and, yes, genocidal massacre of Halabcha. The horrors of that march are burned into the very core of America's policy, and the lessons from March 16th of 1988 are not subject to any change in US administrations. We're also less than a week past the mark of two years since the last inch of Iraqi ground was finally recaptured from the terror and subjection of ISIS. I can assure you that President Biden stands firm with his predecessors and with all Iraqis in his commitment to building an Iraq where no such horror can ever happen again. President Biden has made it clear that the COVID-19 crisis, economic relief, and climate change are priorities for his administration. Getting the pandemic under control is his top priority, not only to save thousands of lives daily, but also because it is essential to economic recovery. This is also true for economic growth in the Middle East. The economic crisis is shared, especially because of COVID-19, which will return to threaten US national security if we do not bring it under control everywhere around the globe. The President also recognizes there's no greater long-term challenge than climate change. We all need to raise our climate ambitions. We are committed to working with countries in the region on how we can maximize contributions to the Paris Agreement goals. Climate change is a real problem in Iraq, which already is affected by water scarcity and limited access to potable water. Temperatures are rising and droughts are more frequent, exacerbating poor harvests. We also support Iraq's urgently needed efforts to reform and diversify in its state-centric oil-dependent economy. Iraq presented a white paper on economic reform in October of last year and a reform implementation plan in January. We hope these reforms go from paper to reality, and we appreciate the Finance Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Alawi's leadership on these issues. This is essential for Iraq to create a vibrant private sector that will attract investment and create jobs. Part of this reform process includes supporting Iraqi efforts to diversify its sources of energy, helping Iraq reduce gas flaring, develop renewable energy resources, and connect to neighboring electrical grids, will reduce waste and pollution, wean Iraq off of dependence on its neighbor to the east, and provide a better quality of life for ordinary Iraqis. We continue to encourage the GOI and KRG to explore ways to cooperate more on energy issues. The United States is resolute in its commitment to supporting a stable, sovereign, democratic, and prosperous Iraq. As Secretary Blinken has said, we will continue to be a steady, reliable partner that supports Iraq's anti-corruption and economic reform efforts, help it improve regional relationships, provide humanitarian assistance, back efforts to control undisciplined militias, and advise and assist Iraqi counterterrorism forces. We're ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. If we return to the JCPOA, we intend to engage in talks to strengthen and lengthen Iran's nuclear constraints and address other issues, such as Iraq's subsidies to militia groups, its destabilizing activities in the region, its missile programs, and its own human rights violations and abuses. The President seeks to engage with Iran for the good of America, Iran, and Iraq, but he will not sacrifice Iraq's sovereignty or security to achieve that. I also want to reiterate that we will elevate human rights issues across our foreign policy agenda, and we will defend the rights of activists, political dissidents, and journalists around the world to speak their minds freely without fear of reprisal and violence. President Biden promised that America would put human rights at the core of America's foreign policy, quote, not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. On security issues, it's so important to note that the Pope's visit went so extraordinarily well. Its success reflects positively on the development of Iraq's and the KRG's security apparatus. It was not so long ago that such a visit would not have been possible. Nevertheless, insecurity continues. Recent rocket attacks are a threat to Iraqis, as well as Americans, and our global DISIS coalition partners, and to diplomacy in the region. Just recently, there were three attacks on areas that host U.S. diplomats, service members, or contractors in the space of one week. President Biden and Prime Minister Khadimi agreed that those responsible must be held to account. The President therefore authorized the February 25th strikes on a location across the border in Syria in response to recent attacks against American and other coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel. The targets were chosen to correspond to the recent attacks. The facilities were utilized by Kitab Sayyid al-Shuhada in Kitab al-Balla, and to diminish the risk of additional attacks. We will continue to work with the government of Iraq and the Kurdish regional government to address Iran-backed militias and Iran's destabilizing activities in Iraq. These groups are responsible for attacks on our diplomats and armed forces members, as well as attacks on Iraqi citizens, other coalition forces, non-governmental organizations, and UN convoys. The Iraqi government must uphold its duties to protect foreign missions, and hold those responsible for the attacks accountable. Defeating ISIS remains a priority security mission for us in Iraq. The dual suicide bombings in Baghdad in January served as a sobering reminder of the threat that terrorism continues to pose despite the loss of ISIS's physical caliphate. The presence of US forces in Iraq is at the invitation of the Iraqi government to carry out a limited mission focused on advising and assisting Iraqi counterterrorism forces, including Peshmerga, to prevent ISIS's re-emergence as a threat to the American people or our friends or allies in the region. We will continue to maintain that presence as long as necessary to assist the Iraqi government in preventing ISIS from terrorizing the Iraqi people and threatening regional security. Iraq's upcoming elections represent a turning point for Iraqi democracy. We believe effective international election monitors would be instrumental in boosting confidence in the electoral process and preventing a repeat of the low turnout of the 2018 election, which resulted in Iran-aligned parties making gains in the Council of Representatives. Our status as the penholder in the UN Security Council on this issue gives us added responsibility to advocate for an effective solution. Our leadership is committed to supporting efforts to ensure the most credible, transparent and inclusive elections' promises. Let me just say in closing, for a moment, the fact that just a few weeks ago, Pope Francis held a mass in front of 10,000 faithful in the François Hariri Stadium in Erbil. On this regard, we applaud the Kurdish regional government and the people of the Iraqi Kurdish region for opening their hearts and their doors to religious and ethnic minorities from across Iraq and Syria who were displaced by the savagery of ISIS. I join the President in congratulating the government of Iraq and the people of Iraq, including the Kurdish regional government for the care and planning that went into this monumental visit. The visit of His Holiness the Pope to Najaf indicates the importance Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani places on religion and its dialogue and peace and tolerance. The Pope's visit reaffirms Iraq as a land of coexistence and religious tolerance and diversity. The papal visit also opens a new book, or rather reopens an old one, for Iraq is a place where those who are vulnerable or in the minority are not passed over or enslaved and murdered, but instead welcomed, respected and given equal access to opportunity. In the United States, we will continue to work together to create a brighter tomorrow for Iraq's children and grandchildren, and we'll continue to work together to build that Iraq together. Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador Thuler. That was a great set of issues for a very positive agenda for the relationship of the two countries, and we'll get back to discussing some of those in the Q&A and moderated session. Now we go to our second distinguished speaker, Ambassador Farid Yasin, who has been serving as Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. since 2016. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to France, again among many accomplishments and a rich career. We have had the honor to host him in USIP events in person and also now in virtual mode many times. Great to have you back. The floor is yours. Thank you, Dr. Sarang. Let me start off by thanking USIP for hosting this very timely event. I really want to acknowledge your remarkable work in Iraq. It is something that does a lot of good on the ground, and I want to acknowledge especially Elise Grande, who knows and has seen more of Iraq than I think I ever will, and thank her for her service there. I want to acknowledge also you, dear Sarang. There are two people on this panel that I would have loved my minister to appoint as colleagues as ambassadors of Iraq. That's you, and that's Bayan Khanum. And I also want to acknowledge Matt Tuller, my counterpart in Baghdad and friend, and also of course Bayan Khanum for the wonderful work she's doing in our excellent collaboration. And I have to start by acknowledging the season. The month of March is a remarkable month for Iraq. It's a time of reflection, of joy, but also of remembrance because of all the events that Matt referred to, the tragedy of Harajah, the start of the war in 2003, which was both the liberation and something of an occupation, and of course, Novoross, which is a rebirth. And now we have something else to remember it by, which is the visit of the Pope. And it's a visit that I actually watched with a lot of apprehension because I remember the first visit by a high-ranking South American peacemaker to Iraq in 2003. That was Sergio Devello, whom I can't say was a friend of mine. I think had he lived, we would have become friends, but I've interacted with him. And his loss actually is killing by ISIS, by the precursors of ISIS, set us back to real loss. And I really mourn him. And I wanted to acknowledge him. As he was dying, his message to the people he was working with was to stay the course. And I think this is the first of the three messages that I take out of the Pope Francis' visit to Iraq, stay the course. He went to Iraq in spite of the threat of corona, in spite of his frail health, and in spite of the security risks. And I want to acknowledge that. And to add to it all, I think his post-octonuncio in Baghdad came up with corona just before he arrived. So thank him for that. That's the first of his messages. The second message that I took out of his visit was a message of support and healing to the Christian communities in Mosul and Baghdad, which was to those participants, and I know some of them who were at one of those churches that was blown up in 2010, nothing short of miraculous. And then, of course, there is this message of universal brotherhood and peace that he exemplified in his visit to Ayatollah Sistani and to the wonderful multi-religious, multi-ethnic event he held in or the birthplace of Prophet Abraham, to whom we all revere. In short, the Pope went to Iraq. He was embraced. He embraced the Iraqis, all of them. He was embraced by them. And that led to an emotional high. And I'm really gratified that in the wake of this visit, the prime minister called for a national dialogue that I think, based on the spirit, can open up many, many doors. All this being said, let's not gloss over things. Not gloss over things. The situation in Iraq is still challenging. We have a fraught political situation. Our institutions are not fully recovered. We still, for example, have financial practices that revert back to the 19th century in paper and pen. And sometimes I think in quill, we do have a difficult budgetary and economic situation. And we do have a difficult social situation because of our large number of youth that are finding it difficult to find jobs and are dissatisfied as they should be with the services. Top it all off. We're affected by, like everybody else, by COVID-19. We are in a post-conflict situation with all that implies in terms of armed groups, internally displaced persons, refugee camps. We still have to face remnants of ISIS, sleeper cells and roving bands. And we have also a difficult geopolitical context with the tensions between the United States and Iran and the tensions between the United the Iran and the GCC, all of which are neighbors with whom we want to have good relationship. So the situation is challenging, but I don't think it is hopeless, far from it. I think we have a good and popular prime minister of full disclosure. He's an old friend of mine. But the good thing that I want to stress is that the government that we have now really recognizes the difficulties we're facing. And moreover, they are acting to propose solutions and acting on them, as Matt Tuller said. This is a critical component. It's good to have plans and strategies, but you have to make them happen on the ground. So the government came in with what I'd call a good governance program, which was based on the assertion of Iraqi sovereignty on the establishment of early elections on a program that would undertake, which for short, I'll call DDR disarmament demobilization and reintegration. And I think, pointedly, the fighting corruption, which the government sees as an equal threat to terrorism. It did take some concrete steps to address this situation. One was a very unpopular devaluation, but it was something that is really necessary. It is intent on working on diversifying the economy to get us rid of the total dependence on oil. And it has worked and has achieved quite a bit of progress in terms of integrating Iraq within the region, eastward towards Jordan and Egypt, southward towards GCC and northward and eastward towards Iran and Turkey. And also a better integration with the world with, for example, an opening up that I'm happy to report, which is that now citizens of many friendly countries, and particularly the United States, can go to Baghdad and get a visa there without going through the hassle of applying for one at an Iraqi embassy. That actually makes me happy because it gives me less work. And also we have, and that's something that I think should be emphasized, we've adopted the New York Convention, which will facilitate the legal environment and insurances that companies willing to invest and do business in Iraq will have. We've worked, the Congress also worked on promoting partnerships and alliances. And we actually do need our friends and partners within the region, the GCC, Jordan, Egypt, I mentioned them, Turkey and Iran, globally the EU, the P5, G7, of course the USA. And when we say, when some of our officials say that Iran is our neighbor and the United States is a friend, this encapsulates a lot of truths that we have to deal with. First of all, geography is geography, and history is history. And it also spells the fact that we are with this not willing to be part of any to any conflict in the region and not to be part of any access against any other access in the region as part of our independence and our assertion of sovereignty. Nonetheless, of all our friends, the United States is what the friend that I described is indispensable. They have indispensable in helping us to fight ISIS in navigating the financial straits that we find ourselves in and have been very assertive and very, very friend of forceful and helping us reach out and achieve progress with our friends in the GCC. Now, in the United States, as Matt mentioned, there is a new administration. Of course, US interests are independent of whichever administration sits in the White House. And I've expressed this differently by saying at other fora that fact reality prevails. But the truth is this new administration feels very much like an old administration. It includes, you know, many, many people who might consider not only professional contacts, but also friends, people I've known for over a decade. And so, and these are people who know Iraq very, very well, who have followed the ups and downs that we've gone through. And so, it makes our work a little easier in the sense that you don't have to sit down and explain the difficulties and the complexities of Iraq. Very often when you deal with people who don't know or don't have a background in dealing with Iraq, they tend to be reductive in addressing the issues of Iraq and, you know, Shia, Sunni, Kurd, kind of thing. And Iraq is much more complex and cannot be reduced to such simplifying assumptions. So, these are old friends who know. And with them, I do hope and expect that we will continue our cooperation, all the issues that I mentioned above, their support to us in the regional integration, the continued fight against ISIS. But I think at this point, we should look at a phase of what I'd call normalization in the sense that the United States is now moving towards helping us stand on our feet in terms of military capabilities, for example, so that at some point in the near future, we will be able to deal with our own security needs on our own without having to revert or request assistance from outsiders, however friendly they are. We expect the United States to help us in our economic reforms. I want to signal in this the role of the private sector and specifically the work of the U.S. Chamber. They've recently come up with a very, very useful document of recommendations to work with highlighting for key areas, very topical, very timely cooperation on COVID developments of our electrical system by increasing gas capture, which would of course, as was mentioned by my friend Matt, would approve the environmental situation. Financial reform, that is a critical component. Anybody who's had to transfer money in and out of Iraq has seen how difficult it is. And then the establishment of what they call free economic zones, I think that might make it easier for foreign investors to invest in Iraq in economically viable projects. And this, I'd like to say that this trend towards normalization, I sort of recognize in developments in the United States right now, there is a Bill in Congress that seeks to repeal the AUMF. I think it's something that I consider as part of a normalization, the ending of a phase, the beginning of a new one, of partnership, of looking forward instead of trying to always base our interactions on what happened in the past. And also, I look forward to the United States to help us address global challenges from which we've been absent. First amongst those is climate change. I don't know if those of you who live through Washington in July may remember an article that was published in the Washington Post, which talked about the record temperatures registered in Baghdad in July, I think something like 55 degrees centigrade or something like that, where they cautioned that Baghdad could be a template for future Iraqi cities, sorry, American cities. Iraq, in terms of resilience and preparedness, ranks pretty low. I think the University of Notre Dame has a ranking of preparedness because of the changes anticipated through climate change. And I think we were at 164 out of 109 or 200, which is not difficult given the region we're in and the base temperature that we live through. So I look forward to what's the United States helping us in this. They have, in fact, through the support we've received in terms of capturing flared gas, but there are many areas where we could work on mitigating climate change through reforestation, through the adoption of better standards in terms of buildings and energy transmission. And I'd like to add one point that is that of all the countries that are part of the G7, the United States is the only one that has parts of its territory where you find a climate similar to that of Iraq's. So their companies are actually institutions are better geared towards address helping us address our problems than those of our other partners. That's an invitation, if you will. On a personal note, climate change is a subject that is very near and dear to me. Practically 25 years ago, I started on the 18th of March, 1996. I started working for the climate change secretariat in Bonn. I attended COP 2, COP 3 and COP 4 as member of the secretariat at COP 3. In fact, I did meet Secretary Kerry. He was at the time the junior senator from Massachusetts. I doubt that he remembers, but that actually did happen. And then in 2006 and 2007 through work under the current president of Iraq, Baham Sadeh, as part of the Iraq Compact, I put the adhesion to the Rio conventions, including climate change on the agenda of the Iraqi government. And we adhered to the convention in 2009. And just a couple of years ago, we ratified the Paris Agreement. I was later on a member of the Iraqi delegation. In fact, I attended the Iraqi delegation at COP 10. We were not members at the time. And that was in 2004. But I also participated in the all-important Paris Agreement. And I'd like to say that we have compiled our national documents under the Paris Accord. But as Matt knows very well, this is something that we're incited and invited to revise upwards. And I can assure you that there is all the will and the Iraqi government to do that because, as I said, this is a real problem. So this is something that I look forward to working on together with our colleagues in the United States, and most particularly at the forthcoming strategic dialogue that we will hold, I think, sadly, virtually. We've been a lot better told in person next month. Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador Yasin. I appreciate that. And it's great to see that there is a great set of areas of overlap from what Ambassador Tullar described from the U.S. perspective and what you are describing from the Iraqi government perspective, and obviously based on areas of common priority. And again, a positive agenda is forming in that. So before we go to the questions and answers, I'd like to now go last but not least, move to hear from Ms. Bayan Saimi Abdul Rahman, the representative of the Kursna Regional Government in Washington. She's been serving in this position since 2015. Before that, she was the KRG's representative to the United Kingdom. Again, and stops in her career, rich career, many more to highlight, but in the interest of time, we'll go to her. And we had the honor to host her at USIP events many times as well. Great to have you back. The floor is yours. Thank you very much, Kaq Sarhan. I'd like to greet Lisa Grande, President of USIP. Very good to see you. And thank you, Dr. Sarhan and also Ambassador Tullar, Ambassador Yasin. You both really covered most of the points. So I don't want to repeat them. I agree with everything that both of you said. So please assume I said everything you said as well. So what I'm saying is really in addition, rather than in replacement of what their excellencies said. First, I would like to thank the US Department of State and the Iraqi Embassy and Ambassador Yasin for their support during our Halabja commemoration last week and the kind words they expressed today. Halabja really has come to symbolize all of the genocides in Kurdistan, unfile the killing of the Barzani's, the Kaqai's, all of the displacements and forced demographic changes that took place. So we appreciate a note that you both expressed your condolences and your support on that occasion. And also happy nodors to everybody who is celebrating here and back home as well. I think I would like to also mention Pope Francis' visit. I know you both mentioned it, but really it was historic in the true sense. And it's something that I think will live in the collective memory of Iraqis, whether we are Christian, Muslim, Yazidi, Kurdish or Arab, Turkmen, Assyrian. His Holiness Pope Francis' visit really was a unifying moment for the people of Iraq. And I wish we had more of these moments. His message of peace and fraternity was very important. And we in the Kurdistan region certainly hope that all sides can build on that message. His visit was very much needed. A very, very positive moment that shone a light of hope over the country. And we hope that that glow and moment of peace and joy can continue to stay. I would also add, I believe that Pope Francis gave voice to the minorities, to the Christians, to the Yazidis and anybody who feels persecuted. I think he gave voice to their concerns and empowered them shone a light on their situation for all of us in Iraq to take note of. I think it's important for us in the Kurdistan region to thank the United States for all of the support that we've had from the US over the years. This year we're marking the 30th anniversary of Operation Provide Comfort. The anniversary actually falls next month in April and you will see that there will be commemorative events both in Erbil in Europe and hopefully here also in the United States. Operation Provide Comfort was, as you know, a military humanitarian operation largely by the United States and the UK, but also other countries like France that provided a protection for the people of Kurdistan against Saddam Hussein. It also really gave us the shelter and the protection that we needed to be able to lay the foundations that have resulted in what we have today in Kurdistan. Today, Kurdistan is a safe haven for anybody who's fleeing persecution, particularly the religious minorities, and I appreciate Ambassador Tula recognizing that earlier. We would like to celebrate Operation Provide Comfort as a message of thanks to our partners in the United States, the United Kingdom and other coalition partners that have supported us as we have fought ISIS and tried to protect our people and the people of Iraq in general. Kurdistan region remains a safe haven for religious minorities and we hope that that will continue. We do need the coalition, the United States, the UN, European countries, Canada, Australia to stay the course with us and I'm pleased to see that NATO is considering beefing up its presence in Iraq as it continues to professionalize and support Iraqi military forces. We need the support of our partners to help us continue with the stabilization of Iraq in general and to protect the Kurdistan region in particular. There are threats as both ambassadors mentioned from ISIS, from some ill-disciplined militia groups that have threatened not only coalition partners, the Iraqi government, but also the Kurdistan region. Some of those militias, of course, fought very briefly against ISIS, but some of them are now causing problems to the stability of Iraq and I think that needs to be addressed not only by all of us in Iraq, but also by our partners. Otherwise, how will the displaced people ever be able to return home? How will the Yazidis and Christians and even the Sunni Arabs and Shia who are still displaced in the Kurdistan region ever be able to return home unless we are able to secure their areas and provide services? Both their excellencies, the ambassadors, mentioned elections in Iraq and as I said, I'm really adding to what they said. They covered so many important areas, but one thing that I think I should highlight is the secondary displacement that we're now seeing among internally displaced populations. Several camps, displacement camps have been closed without really any thought put into where those displaced people will now go and we're seeing secondary displacement. This is really a problem that's been created deliberately. I don't personally understand why this has happened. I'm also very concerned. How will those people be able to vote in the Iraqi election? I would argue that if you're a displaced person, your vote will matter more than anybody else's. You should be able to decide the next government more than anybody else, since you are the most affected. So this is a question that I think needs to be addressed. Why are these people being displaced a second time? What is being done to rehouse them, to take care of them, and how will they be able to vote in the forthcoming elections? With that, I would like to stop here. But again, thanks to the USIP, you've always been great partners of all of us in Iraq, including Kurdistan region, and also to thank Ambassador Yasin and Ambassador Tula. And over to you, Kaksar Han. Thank you. Thank you, Ben Khan, for your thoughtful and rich remarks as well. Quite nicely complimenting and adding to what Ambassador Tula and Ambassador Yasin have raised as well. Just for our audience and viewers just to remind that you can pose your questions through the live stream chat box there. And I have already received a good number of questions and falling nicely in the bucket of the bilateral relations and the bucket of the human legacy of ISIS and what to do with those challenges, elections, regional actors and all of that. So coming back to you, Ambassador Tula, we have a question from, if I forgive me if I'm mispronouncing the name, Zorica Marek. And the question is whether any significant changes result from the Biden administration's formal review of US policy in Iraq. And if I may add to that two elements is that one in probably just over a year ago, there was a point of frustration in the relationship where the decision makers, policy makers, Iraq watchers in Washington were feeling that probably they do not have the partner they need in Iraq to work with through a positive agenda for the relationship of the two countries. What can you share today in terms of where we are in that partnership and having the partner that you need in the relationship in Iraq? And the second aspect is that there has been one issue that kept coming up in the past few years is that the relationship and the US policy in Iraq was really dominated by either the response to the conflict with ISIS or Iran. But what you laid out, what Ambassador Yasin laid out, what Mr. Rahman laid out, there are some good elements that it's just Iraq centric. But the fact is that threats from attacks continue. Ambassador Tula, you've been on the receiving end firsthand of those threats. How will you navigate that this positive agenda that you laid out in priorities and the security threats not derail, not take all the bandwidth? So coming to you for your comments, please. Well, thank you, Mr. Rahman. I think if I said something very important, of course, this administration includes a large number of people beginning with President Biden who have many, many years of experience, not just in the Middle East, but particularly in dealing with Iraq. And I think that brings an appreciation for not only the complications of issues related to Iraq, but also an appreciation for the very strong US interest in having Iraq as a strong, stable, secure, unified state. I think that clearly the US administration for now, while focusing to the extent possible on those domestic issues that I outlined, as necessary, there will be attention given to foreign policy issues. And of course, Iran has been one that very immediately pushed itself up into that area. Well, I can't say, however, I think this administration, as it approaches Iraq, is not going to do it simply through the lens of Iran. Understanding the importance of lowering the tensions with Iran and not allowing that US-Iran tensions to play out in Iraq, I think there'll be a renewed commitment to looking at ways in which we can help to stabilize the institutions of the Iraqi government, because ultimately that is what will serve US interest. And to the second part of your question, I think that those strong institutions that will be able to address what are really some of the most pressing threats to a strong, stable Iraqi state are corruption, a resurgence of ISIS, and the role that armed militias outside the control of the state. All three of those need to be addressed by strong Iraqi state institutions, not only in the security field, but of course, building and strengthening the institutions in the political sphere and economic sphere. So what I think as you watch, you'll see that there will be a very great focus on building a strong relationship with Iraq, because that in and of itself is important to US interest in this region. Over. Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador Tullar. If I may come to you, Ambassador Yasin, and then Ms. Rahman, after on the Iraqi side of the relationship, I think there was often times that the Iraqi request was, don't put us, don't force us in one camp versus another. And that message came clearly as well. But today, Ambassador Yasin, you also also shared a good list of items that Ambassador Tullar mentioned, but in the Iraqi partnership, stepping up and taking matters in its own hand to a certain extent and not responding to the general comment that usually that the international community cannot fix these problems for Iraq. Where do you see the Iraqi government stepping up? And second, you mentioned the strategic dialogue. Can you also speak to where do you see the next steps with that strategic dialogue? Coming to you, Ambassador Yasin, and then to you, Ms. Rahman. Thank you for this follow-up. So to paraphrase an American friend of mine, it's only seen from an American perspective. Iraq is a country that has a 360 degree strategic significance. Like I said, from our perspective, the United States is the indispensable friend. And so we look to a deepening and strengthening relationship with the United States. The problems that Matt mentioned are all there. But what I would like to assert is that the Iraqi government is aware of these. All you need to do is read the current program that was approved some like 10, 11 months ago, and see that there has been some serious efforts to implement this program, sometimes running the risk of violence in back that. The main point that I'd like to make is that these problems have to be resolved in a way that is Iraqi and that works on an Iraqi timeframe. And sometimes this is the real problem is that the Iraqi timeframe, timescale, is not as fast as that of others. And so what I would like to emphasize is that our friends should exhibit a little more strategic patience with us because we have the will, we have the intent, we are working on the means, but our interests are aligned. Iraq will not compromise on its sovereignty. The attacks on the bases and foreign institutions actually have hurt more Iraqis than foreigners. That's something that we can't overlook. And we have to do something about this and we are. And as to the point that Matt raised, which is all important about the need to strengthen Iraq's institutions, that is critical. And please bear in mind that this is something that is not new. It's an issue that we've been dealing with ever since, not the debatification that happened in 2003 and 2004, but actually the debatification that happened 20 years earlier, 30 years earlier, when the institutions of the state were stripped of very, very competent and capable people for others who were just party hacks. And so we're trying to, as I'm trying to convey this idea, to fix as quickly as possible, you know, damage that's been cumulative for over 30, 40 years, and we can't do it overnight. Over. Thank you, Ambassador. Ms. Rahman. Thank you very much, Kaq Sirhan. Well, as has already been said, the Biden administration is extremely experienced, knows Iraq and the entire region very, very well. We are looking to see what this policy review will result in. One of the things that we would like to see from the Kurdistan region's point of view is greater engagement by Washington and our other partners in trying to achieve a longer-term sustainable settlement between Erbil and Baghdad. I think whichever side we're on, whichever lens we look through, it's clear that bad relations between Erbil and Baghdad are destabilizing for all of Iraq and damaging for Iraq's reputation and even possibly for the KRG's reputation. It's in all of our interest to have Erbil and Baghdad have a much stronger relationship, a deeper understanding of each other's needs and challenges. And I think, frankly, this needs international engagement. We're very pleased when we hear President Biden and Secretary Blinken say that diplomacy is back. Well, this is where we need that diplomacy to be stepped up. I know Ambassador Tula and Council General Rob Waller and Erbil have discussed this issue many times between Erbil and Baghdad, but I think we need stronger engagement. We don't want to have an annual round of negotiations that goes on forever over the budget. Our issues between Erbil and Baghdad are more than just salaries. We have issues over the disputed territories. Those issues have been allowed to ferment and get worse and worse. There are many people in Kirkuk who still can't go home, people who feel harassed and pushed out of their homes. I mentioned earlier the Yazidis and Christians who've been displaced and still can't go home. Those are issues that we need to discuss in addition to energy areas of discussion, as well as the economy and the budget. And I think the United States, the UN and other partners can play a great role in that. Taksat Han, you mentioned the Strategic Dialogue and Ambassador Yasin mentioned that too. The Strategic Dialogue last year was really a high point. It was quite remarkable that the Trump administration invited Prime Minister Khadami in the middle of the pandemic with very few world leaders able to visit Washington. And yet Prime Minister Khadami was invited to Washington with a big delegation that included, of course, members from the Kurdistan regional government. This was a wonderful high point. But unfortunately, after that, it really fizzled out. Of course, there may be very good reasons for that. Perhaps the two ambassadors may want to address why the Strategic Dialogue kind of fizzled out for the remainder of 2020. But we're very pleased that it will resume next month. And we hope that the Dialogue will really begin to take off again and have a way of cementing this solid relationship between the United States and the Iraq. And I'll hand over back to you. Thank you. If I may, I'd like to add a point, if I could. So of course, there are issues that are internal to Iraq that should be discussed by Iraqis, whether they're between the central government and the governorates or the regional government. Like I said, this is an Iraqi issue. And our friends and allies can certainly help by providing us maybe with technical expertise and advice. But in the end, this is something that should be an Iraqi process. And I think the best way to move forward is to take into account two critical factors that sometimes are not always present. One is the need to have as much transparency as you can. This is something that I've been naturally pushing for. Many years ago, Iraq was the first OPEC member to adhere to the Transparency International's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which seeks to shed light on how hydrocarbon revenues are gathered and spent. And I think the KRG is also a participant in this. And the other element that I think we should really focus on is that of equity. And equity is not equality. It's something that's much broader that looks at the past, at the future, and at the needs of all in relations to the others. And I think if we were to sit down and think of equity on an Iraqi basis, amongst the Iraqis, we will reach an agreement that will respond to our needs and that will help us move beyond the difficulties that we've had so far. Thank you, Ambassador. So I have received lots of questions and we are a few minutes away from the time that we have set. But all three speakers have kindly accepted to stay a few more minutes if there was a good set of questions that we needed to tack through. So I think we will probably go a few minutes over. The largest number of questions I received touched on issues of justice and accountability, a good chunk of them related to the conflict with ISIS. And there is some also related to debatification and accountability and justice commission. So Iraq is a situation, unfortunately, that different cycles of violence produced different matters of justice and accountability that keep bleeding into each other. So if I come to Ambassador Thuler and I'm happy for Ambassador Yasin and Mr. Rahman to comment on this as well, if they wish, is that I know this is an area that justice and accountability, especially with the most complicated cases related to ISIS, the so-called ISIS families are perceived to be affiliated with ISIS, has been an issue that coming up over and over again that Iraq and the international community continues to struggle with. Where is that now in your conversations and priorities Ambassador Thuler? I know the embassy has been working with its Iraqi partners on this issue, but we still have Al-Hal, the Iraqis mostly still there. And I'm pleased to report to this audience that next week we'll be hosting Iraq's Minister for Migration and Displacement to talk and go and on a deep dive on this issue. So I will not be pressing for too much detail here, but just since the many questions came up and out of respect for those who have asked, I would like to get your thoughts, Ambassador Thuler on the issue. And then I'll come to Ambassador Yasin and Mr. Rahman with an additional component that relates to them, said now 18 years after the 2003 war and talking about all religions, talk about forgiveness and tolerance hasn't come time for the accountability and justice commission in Iraq to be dissolved and let the justice sector, the formal institutions of justice take matters into their own hand. First to you Ambassador Thuler. Okay, thank you. Well there are a lot of layers of complexity to this problem and of course we're aware that there are a very, very large number of former ISIS fighters who are in custody of the Syrian Democratic Forces at various ad hoc prison facilities in northeast Syria. But Al-Hal, of course, a camp that right now, and it isn't a formal refugee camp, but it houses upwards of about 70,000 people, roughly 30 to 35,000 are Iraqis. And amongst that population and the various other populations that coexist in the camp, there's a very, very large element that are clearly not only families associated with ISIS who fled to Al-Hal after the fall of Bangus, but in fact a number of ISIS elements and active elements largely led by women who continue to ideologically and in their activities and operational support enable an ISIS capability. However, there is a sub portion of the Iraqi population at Al-Hal that were there displaced prior to the fall of Bangus. And that's a particularly vulnerable group because they're being subjected to the ongoing pressure and isolation and conditions by inside the camp where elements of ISIS are largely controlling that. I would have said a year ago that we were right on the verge of at least getting those roughly 500 families out. COVID and a number of other factors intervened, but I think we're back on track and really very, very close now to having that as a first step to bring out that portion of the Iraqi population at Al-Hal. There's a location that's under preparation. We want to all make sure that the transfers take place, not only safely, but consistent with best international practices. And then there is, that begins a process for at least establishing how to begin to return to Iraq that remaining population, which frankly is going to be much more difficult to bring back because there will be very, very difficult questions of having to consider separation of children from mothers of the stigma attached to some of these returning Iraqis to communities where their association and in some cases not just sort of association by family relationship with ISIS. So all of that is something that I find that there are good partners now within the Iraqi system. They're working closely with IOM, with our own security personnel in northeast Syria, and with UNHCR and others. So I hope that within the next coming weeks we'll see that first step of removing that particularly vulnerable population from Al-Hal. Over. Thank you, Ambassador. Ambassador Yasin. No, thank you. Well, I actually can only echo what my colleague Matt said, and thank you for the support that the embassy is giving the Iraqi government to carry this out. And of course, I'll defer to what the Minister of Displaced Persons will say when she comes here next week, she's on the ground. And of course, if Lee's wants to chip in, that's a subject she knows very, very well, but far better than I do. But the point that I want to raise is that this is something that we need to address, because otherwise it can transform itself into a ticking time bomb with disenfranchised youngsters who will remain marginal to the society and could many, many years later constitute, like I said, ticking time bombs with a resurgence of the ISIS ideology. Over. Thank you, Ambassador. Mr. Rahman, any thoughts on this? Excuse me, sorry. Kaqsat-Hang, you mentioned justice and accountability being one of the questions that has come up to you. Justice and accountability is, I think, critical to the future of Iraq for us to be able to move on from the old wounds that we have inflicted on each other and then the more recent wounds inflicted by ISIS on various groups. I think it'll be very hard for us to move on without justice and accountability. It's great that UNITAD is working on gathering evidence of ISIS crimes. And according to UNITAD officials, they're getting a lot of help from the Iraqi government as well as the KRG and lots of NGOs. So I hope that the evidence that they gather will result in prosecutions, whether in Iraq itself or in European countries or Western countries, where foreign terrorist fighters went from those countries into Iraq and conducted genocide, or indeed whether Iraq itself, whether in Kurdistan or elsewhere in Iraq, can establish a court, perhaps a hybrid court, to put on trial these criminals. I know there are many in Iraq who don't want any international involvement in this. That's okay, so long as we're dealing with it, but are we dealing with it? Are we really putting people on trial for sexual enslavement, for genocide, for crimes against humanity? These are issues that I think need to be dealt with. And if you talk to any Yazidi or Christian, this will be one of their priorities. And I think it's important that we deal with it. Thank you. Thank you. So if I may group some elements of issues that I think are connected to the elections, and we have seen in the past two years, Iraq's youth take to the streets and demand change. It resulted in a number of changes already. The call for early elections decided new electoral law and other related matters. Ambassador Tullar, you mentioned and stressed the importance of international monitoring, which is something that Grand Ayatollah Ibn Sistani and others have also flagged. And Grand Ayatollah Ibn Sistani has also really stressed that how critical the elections are as a mechanism for change in his January 2020 comments, that the next elections and the parliament that will come out from the free will of the Iraqi people should determine the key matters that are central to Iraq's destiny. For the Iraqi youth and the Iraqi people to turn out and have faith that change through nonviolent means is possible, the elections is an important piece. And international monitoring is a key part. But key to that peaceful future of Iraq is also how Iraq can tackle the difficult questions of the grievances of the youth, the civil activists that are being targeted and killed and pushed out of their areas. So the election alone will not be a really important piece, but how the youth and the energy of the youth is protected is channeled into the system matters. So I wanted to get your thoughts, Ambassador Tuller first, if there are additional thoughts you want to talk about how in the context of the relations between the two countries, the United States could help Iraq tackle some of these issues beyond election monitoring. You said important ingredients in your remarks earlier, but I wanted to get your thoughts in a more focused manner here on this particular angle Okay, briefly, almost universally in my conversations with Iraqi counterparts, there's a consensus that the election in 2018 was deeply flawed, flawed because of very low turnout, but also flawed in the confidence that people had that it was held in a fair, honest, and transparent manner. I think there's a very, very strong desire amongst the Iraqi people to see the next election held in a manner that gives them more confidence in the result. Now, I think that was also very much a theme when we saw in late 2019 in the fall, October, November, those young people that came out and were demonstrating against what they thought was a political elite that did not represent them and did not speak for them. Now, sadly, of course, what we've seen is almost from near the end of 2019 and ongoing is a very, very concerted effort, I think, to suppress that movement, to suppress that voice, even though that wasn't just young people coming out, my own sense at the time was that across the board, Iraqis felt pride and a sympathy and a resonance in that message. From the international community, of course, a number of us are involved both directly and through UNAMI in support to ensure that the election is held on a technical basis in a way that is consistent with best practices, that what we can provide in terms of monitoring, which as you said, Ayatollah Sistani himself spoke about the UN role in monitoring and overseeing the elections, in a way a veiled condemnation of the political powers and lack of confidence that they're able to do that. We're attempting to find ways in which we can provide some sort of international support beyond just the technical assistance, but my own view is ultimately this is an Iraqi election and no amount of international support is going to be able to give the credibility to the process, unless it's seen by Iraqis as being run by Iraqis in a way that produces a result that reflects the will of the Iraqi people. I think it would be unrealistic to expect sort of a total sea change, but I think what many people hope is that the next election will at least be an improvement and begin to restore a very, very tattered faith in the elections and the political process. I think that's extremely important because if there is the opposite result, then I think the whole question of sort of participatory politics, rule of law and building of state institutions will really suffer a very, very serious blow and we don't want to see the consequences of that. Over. Thank you Ambassador Yasin and then Mr. Ahmad, can I get your thoughts briefly as we are getting the end of the tour, end of our time? Ambassador Yasin? Thank you Dr. Hang. I echo much of what Ambassador Tuller said. One point to be said about Iraqi elections is that the incumbents actually, the change in terms of composition is pretty high. A larger percentage of incumbents in Iraq are not re-elected than many other places, but the important thing is for the new faces that come in to be recognized by all those protest movements in order for them to get a sense of ownership of the political process. I have to say that the issue of electoral reform has been with us ever since the beginning. That's one of the things that I lay the blame on the United Nations for most because they saddled us with an electoral system that was not really well suited to the nature of Iraq. Hopefully this new law will lead to better results, but the important thing is first of course to have as high a level of participation as we can, and I can tell you that all Iraqi embassies have received instructions to seek support from our host countries to try to hold these elections in a fashion that will instill a lot of confidence in people. Of course the best way to minimize the impact of fraud and cheating in elections is to have a high turnout rate and I think that's what we're all aspiring to. What I will say also is that the issue of elections is grabbing people's attention. Just this morning I think the IHAC, the Iraqi High Independent Election on High Electoral Commission came up with a decision to forego expatriate voting, which is going to create a lot of dissension here amongst the expatriate community that we'll have to deal with. Their reasons are constraints in terms of time and in terms of cost and usually the turnout is pretty low. If we had some a way of having electronic and verifiable identification for Iraqis throughout the country, I think we would be able to conduct elections in a much easier way, in a much verifiable way, a much more verifiable way, and so that's one of the areas where by technical assistance our partners and allies can help us improve the electoral situation in Iraq, specifically by for example promoting the development of and spread the use of smart ID cards that can help geolocate people and so that you can draw electoral lists with a little trouble and loss of time. Thanks. Thank you Ambassador, Ms Rachman if you can get your thoughts briefly as well. Well really very little to add, their excellencies have really covered the ground. I agree with everything they said about how critical these elections are and the credibility of these elections being so important for all of us in Iraq to have faith in the next parliament and government. Just to address the question of the grievances of Iraqi youth and I would include the youth in the Kurdistan region in that, and I think this also addresses the issue of many of the displaced people. It's really the economy, it's the lack of jobs, it's the lack of prospects, it's not just that I don't have a job today, I can't even see a job for myself in the next five years and I think that is another key area that needs to be addressed. How to really improve our economy, how to find jobs, create jobs, look at industries like agriculture, tourism, perhaps some light manufacturing as ways that could create jobs for our youth and also for the displaced communities. This is something that we're very much focused on in the Kurdistan region. We do our best to work with the U.S. Chamber, with the U.S. Kurdistan Business Council, with chambers across Iraq actually, not just the Kurdish chambers. I mean Kurdish chambers working across Iraq with other chambers but really I think firing up the economy and creating jobs will really empower our youth and that is something that we need to do a much better job at collectively in Iraq. Thank you. Thank you, Ben Khan. We definitely have lots more questions that we could not get to them and I apologize to our audience that we couldn't work through them. I promise that we'll be more events in the future that we will continue this discussion on these topics and there is plenty of analysis and material on the good number of issues that we discussed today on the USIP website, usip.org that you can check out. I wish that I had more time to ask one final question but we are running out of time and I really thank Ambassador Tuller, Ambassador Yasin and Representative Adir Rahman for really taking the time out of their busy schedule to discuss with us today very specific issues that are central to Iraq as a country for peace and stability but also for a productive positive relationship between the United States and Iraq. In there, and my final question would have been that 18 years into the relationship after the 2003 war and as we go into year 19, what message would they have for the young Iraqis and the young Americans who are watching this relationship and those who have been watching with positive view and also some frustration, I think you gave us a good set of issues by why that relationship matter, that there is an active partnership, that there are practical ways that you are pursuing and it's great to hear that some of the challenges that there's a determination by the administration that the Iraq sovereignty will be key and those solutions that will be pursued will have special recognition of that and it is a partnership and the USIP, you can count on USIP as a partner to help in achieving those objectives that you laid out and as I mentioned earlier on the very difficult and important issue of the human legacy of ISIS and the IPs and the camps, we will discuss those next week with Iraq's migration and displacement minister. Thank you again and thank you for our audience for tuning in. I enjoyed the rest of your day.