No Friend But The Mountains : ThroughlineOver the decades the Kurds have been inspired by, allied with, relied upon and betrayed by the United States. This week we explore who the Kurds are, who they are to the United States and what, if anything, we owe to them.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters occupy a hilltop observation post originally built by Iraqi forces, May 12, 1979.
Alex Bowie/Getty Images
A United Nations representative takes notes while visiting an unidentified chemical warfare victim at Logman Hospital in Tehran, March 31, 1988. UN representatives visited victims of the Iraqi gas attack on the border town of Halabja in which thousands of Kurds were killed and injured.
GREG ENGLISH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hundreds of refugees wait on Iraqi soil at the border as they are supervised by Turkish troops on April 7, 1991. Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees fled from Saddam's army with the hope of being allowed into Turkey.
Gunes/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Kurdish girl holds a U.S. flag during celebrations, April 10, 2003 in northern Iraq. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and U.S. special operations soldiers took the city of Kirkuk amid little resistance.
Patrick Barth/Getty Images
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and U.S. special forces prepare for advancement into northern Iraq on April 3, 2003.
Patrick Barth/Getty Images
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Over the decades the Kurds have been inspired by, allied with, relied upon and betrayed by the United States. This week we explore who the Kurds are, who they are to the United States and what, if anything, we owe to them.