Last edited Thu Mar 5, 2026, 08:27 AM - Edit history (1)
Rulers like Saddam and the late Ayatollah Khameini only want unquestioning followers. Kurds are trapped between Iraq, Iran, and Turkey -- all wanting to control them and make them into compliant subjects of their Great Leaders. They didn't get much better treatment when these regions were controlled by imperial Great Powers, like Russia, the Ottomans, or France or GB. They never wanted to be absorbed into another culture.
After the Iraq War, it looked like the Kurds might finally get some of what they wanted. But then Erdogan turned hard-line Muslim Nationalist and refused to cooperate. When the Kurds were the most effective fighting force in the Middle East against the terrorist pseudo-state ISIS , Trmp pulled US aid out from under them, which cost the Kurds enormous numbers of casualties, many of them tortured to death.
Too bad they don't live next door to Canada. 
ETA: One big difference between Kurds and their Muslim neighbors is their more liberal attitudes towards the roles of women. Kurdish fighting forces have large numbers of women soldiers, including commanding officers. Outside of Iran, Kurdish women do not normally cover their faces or even hair, and their traditional costume is less restrictive even for Muslim Kurds.
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