Ibrahim Balkhy

WASHINGTON -- Asked about Kurdistan in Iraq, the autonomous region that has become the United States' favored partner on the ground against the Islamic State group, most officials and analysts speak of constant attacks, military strategy and weapons supplies.But what's less discussed is the humanitarian crisis that Iraqi Kurds face because their region has absorbed more than 1 million refugees from Iraq and Syria who fled the extremists.

WASHINGTON -- A December 2014 oil agreement struck between Iraq's central government and the country's autonomous Kurdish region is in jeopardy and could soon need to be renegotiated -- only adding to Iraq's difficulties as the country attempts to push back well-armed militants tied to the extremist Islamic State group.When Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurds concluded the agreement, it was seen as a major positive development for the effort to push the Islamic State out of Iraq.

WASHINGTON -- Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, who visited the U.S. for the first time since 2012 earlier this month, believes the U.S. has effectively affirmed its commitment to his region of Iraq, according to his top representative in Washington."What I would say the visit achieved was a reiteration of the strong relationship that there is between the United States and the Kurdistan region in Iraq," said Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman in an interview with The Huffington Post the week following...