Is Trump Turning His Back on America's Kurdish Friends?

Last month when Iraqi Kurds held a referendum on independence, they never imagined it would lead to isolation and ridicule and even the loss of Kirkuk. Now, Turkey has banned flights over its airspace going in and out of Erbil and the Iranians have shut down their border with Kurdistan. All land access points in and out of the autonomous region are now controlled by the Iraqi government. Also, early this week the Iraqi military forced the Kurds out of Kirkuk. Few countries—including the United States have condemned the Turks, Iranians and Iraqi governments for taking the steps they did in response to the Kurdish independence vote.