Thirty people, half of whom were foreigners, died in a hotel fire in Sulaymani. It seems the hotel did not meet code, but the ruling family accepted incentives to look the other way. Corruption has a high price.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the murder of a journalist by security forces controlled by Masrour Barzani, Masud Barzani’s son, has gone nowhere, as investigators are finding no leads that don’t point to Masrour.
When Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, goes into business with Masrour’s father, it does not do the image of the United States well.