Regarding Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani’s June 29 op-ed, “Iraqi Kurdistan must vote on independence”:

The Kurds of Iraq are our best and most loyal friends in the region. They have fought bravely against the Islamic State with minimal support from the Baghdad government and, unfortunately, the United States. They give sanctuary to persecuted minorities. Their human rights values are consistent with ours.

As the Kurds of Iraq move toward claiming their independence and becoming a separate state, I hope U.S. and European leaders will provide support. It is inevitable that the citizens of the Kurdish region will support the move toward independence in their forthcoming referendum. U.S. involvement in supporting the independence process outlined by Mr. Barzani offers the hope for a peaceful transition to a new Kurdish state. Our failure to engage in the process could well lead to conditions similar to those experienced during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, when Western nations stood by for too long while tyrants — war criminals — ran amok destroying towns and cities, persecuting minorities and killing tens of thousands of innocent people.

The move to an independent Kurdish state in Iraq is well underway. U.S. national security interests will undoubtedly be affected depending on how we engage (or fail to engage) in the process.

Ronald H. Griffith, Arlington

The writer, a general, is retired from the U.S. Army, where he was vice chief of staff of the Army and commanded the 1st Armored Division

in Desert Storm.