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STORY
UPDATE
The Kurds call their soldiers the Peshmergas - "those
who embrace death". For them, the war with
Iraq was just the latest battle in a decades long
war they have waged against Saddam Hussein.
But this time they didn't fight alone. They had
the support of the U.S. Special forces.
The Iraqi regime and its weapons of mass destruction
are no longer a threat. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
has been captured. Yet there are still many things
at stake along the northern front of Iraq.
The Kurds ultimate objective is to reclaim their
homeland that Saddam took from them and to avenge
the tens of thousands of Kurds he slaughtered over
fifteen years ago. (see the
attack on Halabja)
The Kurds's dream of reoccupying their historical
capital, the city of Kirkuk, which is surrounded
by Iraqi oil fields, has finally been realized.
Kurdish Peshmergas and U.S. special forces moved
into the strategic oil hub of Kirkuk on April 10,
2003.
Neighbouring Turkey has threatened to send its troops
into Iraq if the Kurds declare an independent state.
They fear a backlash from the Kurds living within
their own borders.
The Kurds have threatened a border war with Turkey
if the Turkish troops enter northern Iraq.
Sorting out which turf belongs to whom will be a
major undertaking in northern Iraq. For now, th
Kurds have five members on Iraq's governing council
and remain part of Iraq.
In October 2003, the U.S. administration asked Turkey
to supply some peacekeeping troops for Iraq and
Turkey offered to send in 10,000. The new Iraqi
governing council vetoed the idea fearing a war
in the north. Both the U.S. and Turkey abandonned
the plan. (Read Kurd
Sell-Out Watch from Slate)
Kurdish controlled areas of Iraq have been a target
for suicide bombers. In February 2004, a state of
emergency was declared after two suicide bombings
killed at least 56 people and injured as many as
235. It was the deadliest
attack inside Iraq for months.
Shortly afterwards the U.S. asked the Kurds to disband
the peshmerga saying there was 'no place in an independent,
stable Iraq for armed forces that are not under
the control of the command structure of the central
government.' (CBC.ca: Suicide
bombers kill 56 Iraqi Kurds)
So far the Kurds have refused to do so. (Read
Kurd
Sell-Out Watch from Slate)
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