There is one region in the world that wholeheartedly supports a potential U.S. war in Iraq. It is stashed away in a northern corner of Iraq itself, populated by almost four million Kurdish peoples, the recently forgotten minority.
There, in cities such as Sulaimaniya and Erbil, you’ll find no debates of military precedent, weapons inspections or security council resolutions. There is instead expectation and hope, as the people targeted the longest by Saddam Hussein look ahead to a potentially peaceful future.
Mixed with the Kurds’ expectant hope is a fear which stems from tragic history. These Kurds lived through Anfal, the Iraqi campaign which saw the deportation, relocation and extermination of thousands of their people. It was during this effort that Saddam Hussein, in a now famous phrase, “Used weapons against his own people,” killing more than 5,000 in the city of Halabja.
The reasons for Kurdish fear are obvious. Saddam has proven that he is willing to use biological weapons against them, and the chances of a repeat performance would rise exponentially if his regime were attacked.
Should this happen, the results for the Kurds would be disastrous. Kurdish medical officials unanimously feel resources to respond to an attack are woefully inadequate. It is estimated that as few as 200 working gas masks are available, while medial supplies necessary to treat victims of a biological attack are virtually non-existent.
Many Kurdish demonstrators recently requested that the United Nations foot the bill and provide chemical protective gear, masks which would be worn by Kurds in the case of an attack. They also requested basic medical necessities such as antibiotics and bandages.
The New York Times reported last week that the Bush administration, according to one official, was considering “very seriously” the request to offer assistance. However, the official emphasized the supposed obstacles to carrying out such a program, such as U.N. technicalities and U.S. trade law.
Those “obstacles” should justify exactly nothing. Protection of the Kurdish people should be a top priority of any U.S. military campaign in Iraq. While the concept of a “just war” is contradictory at worst, ambiguous at best, the United States recently has been conscious of fighting wars with the intention of avoiding as many unnecessary civilian casualties as possible. This has not gone unnoticed, apparently, as many Kurds were quoted in the Times expressing confidence that the United States would, in fact, provide equipment and assistance.
Sadly, though, the first interaction between the West and the Kurds since their request was not a positive one. Two days ago, in what was described by one Kurd as an action that rubbed salt in old wounds, weapons inspectors arrived unannounced — and accompanied by Iraqi officials — at a university in Kurdish Iraq that lies beyond Hussein’s control.
The choice to send inspectors to Kurdish areas was preposterous — they were attacked by Saddam’s biological weapons, not developing them. The act also was a blatant violation of an agreement reached in mid-January between the United Nations and Kurdish leaders, which stipulated that the Kurds would provide unlimited access to all inspections, provided that inspectors notified them of visits and were never accompanied by Iraqis of Saddam’s regime.
The United Nations, in a rare showing of efficiency, managed to violate both prongs of the agreement at once by arriving unannounced and accompanied by 16 Southern Iraqis.
One only can hope this is not an indication of a prevailing Western view of the Kurds. If we respect them so little that a pact is broken only three weeks after it is made, is there reason to believe the West will answer a call to act swiftly to ensure their safety?
Even CIA director George Tenet has stated that the likelihood of an attack by Saddam would rise immeasurably if he were invaded. Therefore, it is foolish to ignore the possibility that a major, peripheral effect of military intervention could be a near genocide of Iraq’s Kurds (provided they remain unprotected).
If the U.S. shirks its responsibility, and that genocide does occur, Kurdish blood will be on our hands as well as Saddam’s. The decision to help those who are the most defenseless is our solemn duty to humanity, and one that history certainly will remember.