Appendix G
                                     The Kurds
   An ancient myth tells us that in olden times King Solomon the Wise was troubled by the antics of
a group of wild spirits called the Jinn, so he had them imprisoned in a bottle. When the bottle was
accidentally opened, the Jinn escaped. While in Europe, they abducted some beautiful women, then fled
to the most isolated area in the world, the rugged mountains of Kurdistan. There, safe from retribution,
the Jinn happily ignored a curse that their descendants would have to endure endless sorrow to make up
for the wanton acts of the Jinn. Modern Kurds call themselves "the children of Jinn," and stoically accept
the misery of their lives. This myth is often used to explain the presence of fiercely independent, light-
skinned people living in the Middle East.
   The Kurds are separated from their Arab neighbors by race, language, religion, and culture. There
are about 20 million Kurds, most living in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Anatolia or in the Zagros
Mountains of southwestern Iran. Most are hospitable to strangers but are suspicious of their neighbors.
The Kurdish language, probably an archaic form of Farsi, is the glue that binds the diverse Kurds
together.
   The Kurds accepted Islam in the 7th century, and today many are devout Sunni Muslims. Most
Kurds, however, reject the Arab culture associated with Islam. For the most part, rural Kurds are a close-
knit, tribal society. The major Kurdish tribes are the Barzani, the Dizai, the Hamawandi, the Herkki, the
Jaff, the Sorchi, and the Zibari.
   Kurdish history has been a repetitive story of rebellion and disunity. Ancestors of the modern Kurds
were first mentioned in history when Greek General Xenophon's Ten Thousand battled local warriors
near the modern town of Zakho (Iraq) during the 5th century B.C. The actual name "Kurds" was first
applied by Muslim conquerors around 750 A.D. The most famous Kurd was Saladin the Great.
Traditional enmity between the Kurds and their rulers resulted in a tenacious struggle for Kurdish
survival. The Persians, Mongols, and Ottoman Turks have conquered Kurdistan, but never successfully
subdued its rebellious inhabitants. Relations between the Iraqi Kurds and Saddam Hussein have been
acrimonious. Although promising peace and autonomy in the March Manifesto (1970), Saddam is
suspected of initiating a policy of genocide. He used duplicity, lies, exile, assassination, and military
force (including chemical weapons) to subdue the Kurds.