Is Kurdistan about to take its first step toward independence?

On Sept. 15, the White House released a statement that read in part, "The United States does not support the Kurdistan Regional Government's intention to hold a referendum later this month. The United States has repeatedly emphasized to the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government that the referendum is distracting from efforts to defeat ISIS and stabilize the liberated areas."

Ahead of the pivotal referendum, I conducted the following interview with Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Representative to the United States. It was conducted before the aforementioned statement was released by the White House.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

JPC: First off, please speak a bit about comparing and contrasting the relationship that the KRG of Iraq has had with the Obama administration and the Trump administration. Where are there policy similarities, differences, generally, what do you make of it?

BSAR: I would say we had a very good relationship with the Obama administration and we have a very good relationship with the Trump administration. That is our goal, to have a good relationship with the U.S. It's not our business whether it's a Democrat or a Republican administration, that's for the people of the U.S. to decide. In terms of the actual policy, we so far haven't seen much change in terms of the training, equipping, and support of the Peshmerga that continues and we're pleased with that. In terms of the political and diplomatic engagement, that continues, and we're very pleased with that.