"The thoughts and prayers of your friends from Kurdistan are with you and your family," reads a handwritten letter co-signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Representative to the US Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman and Falah Mustafa, the head of the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations.
McCain, 80, announced on Wednesday that doctors had discovered a glioblastoma brain tumor after undergoing a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye.
"We have known you as a hero a strong man and an American patriot. We value and cherish your friendship and support and wish you a speedy recovery," reads the KRG letter.
Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, according to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, the facility where the five-term senator is being treated in his home state of Arizona.
"We look forward to welcoming you once again to Kurdistan,” added the letter.
#KRGFM@falahmustafa and Rep. @BayanRahman call on @SenJohnMcCain office to pass on prayers and good wishes from his friends in Kurdistan. http://pic.twitter.com/UcZR3RTuHF
— KRG-USA (@KRG_USA) July 20, 2017
Former Prime Minister Barham Salih also extended well wishes to McCain.
“Get well soon Senator John McCain, statesman, champion for freedom,” Salih wrote in a tweet. “Inshallah [it] won’t be long before we could host you back here in Kurdistan and Iraq.”
McCain chairs the powerful Senate’s Committee on Armed Services, which has legislative oversight on the US military and its spending.
In late May, officials including Masrour Barzani, the chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) met with McCain in Washington where they discussed “regional developments” and reviewed “long-term American support to Peshmerga forces.”
Weeks later the Kurdistan Region announced plans to hold a referendum on independence on September 25.
McCain met with high-level Kurdish officials including President Masoud Barzani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in February.
A veteran Kurdish commander and leader of the Kurdistan Socialists Party, Muhammad Haji Mahmud, who was part of Barzani’s delegation, said the topic of independence was discussed with the Americans, including McCain and Vice President Mike Pence.
Mahmud described the feedback as mixed, but McCain as "more enthusiastic” than the Kurds themselves.”
Also in February, McCain visited the city of Kobani in northern Syria, where the United States backed Kurdish fighters to oust ISIS militants. That was believed to be the first US lawmaker to visit Kurdish Rojava since American special forces joined the local fighters in the war with ISIS. He visited Syria previously in 2013, meeting with the Free Syrian Army.
McCain visited the Kurdistan Region in late 2014. He applauded Peshmerga forces for their resistance against ISIS.
"We would like to express our sympathy and our prayers to the families of the fallen — these brave young Peshmerga who have lost their lives fighting for freedom,” McCain told Rudaw in early 2015.
He added that he would make every effort to secure his country’s arms support for the Kurdish forces.
The United States announced it would pay $415 million for salaries of Peshmerga fighters last year, as the Kurdistan Region had been enduring multiple crises and frontline Kurdish soldiers hadn’t been paid in three months.
The US military has continued to provide training, arms and reconnaissance to Peshmerga fighters in the Kurdistan Region.
McCain served in the US Navy and saw combat in Vietnam as a pilot. He earned the Bronze Star for "heroic or meritorious achievement or service" for missions flown over North Vietnam in 1967.
During his 23rd mission, his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile. McCain ejected, fractured both arms and a leg, then was captured by North Vietnamese soldiers and held as a prisoner of war for five-and-a-half years before eventually being released.
He retired from the military as a captain in 1981 and has earned 17 military awards, notably the Silver Star for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States and Purple Heart for being wounded against an enemy.
US Senator John McCain (right) meets with a delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government in May in Washington, including Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the representative to the US; Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff to the Kurdish President; and Masrour Barzani, the chancellor of the Security Council. Photo: KRSC
from Rudaw http://ift.tt/2vq3Qr2
via Defense News
No comments: