Transcript
KENNETH POLLACK: Good morning and welcome to the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. We are absolutely delighted this morning to have His Excellency, President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government joining us for one of our statesman's forums this morning.
As I think everyone in the audience is aware, Masoud Barzani is one of the most important figures in Iraqi politics today. He was famously born on the same day as the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the party which he has led for many years. He served as a warrior among the Peshmerga. He has served as a political leader of the Kurds. And since 2005, he has served as the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government. And he was also, of course -- I think we are all well aware -- just re-elected in 2009 in a popular vote by over 68 percent of the population of Kurdistan -- re-elected to be the president for another term.
Masoud Barzani is one of those figures whose importance is hard to describe to people who don't know anything about Iraq or about the Kurdistan region. I was thinking about it this morning. It occurred to me that in some ways the place that Masoud Barzani occupies in Iraqi politics and Middle Eastern politics is a little bit like the place that Paris occupies in France -- all roads lead to him.
And so for that reason, we are especially gratified to have him here with us at this moment when Iraq has once again risen to the forefront of American and global importance and attention regarding this part of the world. As you're all aware, Iraqis will be going to the polls again on March 7 to elect a new Council of Representatives, a new Parliament. This vote is going to be crucial for the future of Iraq. If it is a good vote; if it produces a stable, strong government that is able to move forward on all of the issues that Iraqis care about so dearly; if it is able to reconcile the various groups fighting so bitterly since 2003, there is every expectation that these elections will move Iraq smartly down the path toward stability, security, and even prosperity.
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