IRAQ THE MEN OF THE MOUNTAINS THERE THE GREEKS SPENT A HAPPY 
NIGHT, WITH PLENTY TO EAT, TALKING ABOUT THE STRUGGLE NOW PAST 
FOR THEY HAD BEEN SEVEN DAYS PASSING THROUGH THE COUNTRY OF 
THE KURDS, FIGHTING ALL THE TIME, AND THEY HAD SUFFERED WORSE 
THINGS AT THE HANDS OF THE KURDS THAN ALL THAT THE 
KING OF PERSIA, AND HIS GENERAL, TISSAPHERNES, COULD DO TO THEM 
. ANABASIS OF XENOPHON ENEMIES OF THE KURDS HAVE ALWAYS HAD 
A HARD TIME OF IT, FROM XENOPHON AND HIS TEN THOUSAND 
GREEKS IN 400 B.C., THROUGH PERSIANS, MONGOLS, TURKS, CRUSADERS, ARABS AND 
BRITISH, UP TO THIS YEAR, WHEN THE REGIME OF IRAQ'S KARIM 
KASSEM WAS BLED WHITE BY THE EFFORT TO CRUSH ONE MORE 
UPRISING OF THE EVER-REBELLIOUS KURD STRIKE . IN BAGHDAD LAST WEEK, 
THE NEW IRAQI REGIME THAT DEPOSED AND KILLED KASSEM IN FEBRUARY 
FINALLY FACED UP TO THE ISSUE OF PEACE OR CONTINUED WAR 
WITH THE KURDISH LEADER, MUSTAFA BARZANI . " THE VERY DAY 
OF THE REVOLT AGAINST KASSEM, / SAID AN ANGRY KURDISH REBEL, 
" THE NEW IRAQI REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND CALLED FOR KURDISH SUPPORT . 
WITH THE REVOLUTION, THE IRAQI ARMED FORCES WERE TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, AND 
WE COULD EASILY HAVE STRUCK DEEP INTO IRAQ . INSTEAD WE 
ACCEPTED THEIR PROMISES AND HELD OUR FIRE . " WHAT THE 
KURDS ARE DEMANDING IS REGIONAL AUTONOMY WITH A KURDISH LEGISLATURE AND 
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, A PROPORTIONATE SHARE FOR KURDS OF ALL REVENUES, OIL 
ROYALTIES AND FOREIGN AID AND, FINALLY, SPECIAL KURDISH ARMY UNITS WITH 
THE SOLE RIGHT TO GARRISON KURDISTAN . THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT LAST 
WEEK STIFFLY REJECTED THE KURDISH MEMORANDUM, OFFERING THEM INSTEAD ONLY LOCAL 
SELF-GOVERNMENT IN A RESTRICTED MOUNTAIN AREA THAT WOULD HAVE EXCLUDED VIRTUALLY 
ALL MAJOR KURDISH POPULATION CENTERS . THREE PLAGUES . THE KURDISH 
HOMELAND BEGINS ABOVE BIBLICAL MOUNT ARARAT AND EXTENDS SOUTH IN A 
LONG, MOUNTAINOUS LOOP TO THE PERSIAN GULF (SEE MAP) . BECAUSE 
OF THE ACCIDENTS OF HISTORY AND THEIR OWN INABILITY TO UNITE, 
THE ESTIMATED 6,000,000 KURDS ARE TODAY DIVIDED AMONG FIVE DIFFERENT NATIONS 
: THE SOVIET UNION, TURKEY, SYRIA, IRAN AND IRAQ . LIKE 
THE KURDISH LANDSCAPE, THE KURDISH CHARACTER HAS REMAINED CONSTANT FOR THOUSANDS 
OF YEARS . MANY KURDS ARE TALL, FAIR-SKINNED AND BLUE-EYED . 
OF LIFE THEY ASK LITTLE MORE THAN FLOCKS OF BROAD-TAILED SHEEP, 
A FINE HORSE, A RIFLE WITH SUFFICIENT CARTRIDGE BANDOLEERS, AND A 
WOMAN WHO CAN BEAR STRONG SONS . FOR GENERATIONS, THE LOWLAND 
ARAB HAS BEEN TERRORIZED BY THE MOUNTAIN KURD . AN ARAB 
PROVERB SAYS, " THERE ARE THREE PLAGUES IN THE WORLD : 
THE RAT, THE LOCUST AND THE KURD . " THE KURDS 
REPLY, " A CAMEL IS NOT AN ANIMAL, AND AN ARAB 
IS NOT A HUMAN BEING . " OF IRAQ'S 7,000,000 PEOPLE, 
AT LEAST 1,500,000 ARE KURDS . THEY LIVE IN THE FOOTHILLS 
OF THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, AND ARE DIVIDED INTO 22 MAJOR AND 
54 MINOR TRIBES . UNLIKE THE ARABS ON THE RIVER PLAINS, 
THEY ARE HARD-WORKING AND FULL OF BOUNCE . BROAD-SHOULDERED MUSTAFA BARZANI, 
60, HAS SPENT MOST OF HIS ADULT LIFE FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE 
. AFTER WORLD WAR II, WITH RUSSIAN BACKING, BARZANI BECAME MILITARY 
BOSS OF THE SOVIET-INSPIRED KURDISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC IN IRAN AND, WHEN 
IT COLLAPSED, WAS FOR TWELVE YEARS IN EXILE IN THE SOVIET 
UNION . THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF THE RULING SHEIK OF THE 
BARZAN TRIBE, BARZANI DENIES HE IS A COMMUNIST, BUT ECHOES OTHER 
KURDISH LEADERS WHO SAY THAT IF WAR BREAKS OUT AGAIN THE 
KURDS WILL " ACCEPT ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET FROM 
ANYONE " RUSSIANS INCLUDED . SHOOT ON SIGHT . AT WEEK'S 
END, AS THEIR DELEGATES STILL WRANGLED IN BAGHDAD, BOTH THE KURDISH 
REBELS AND THE IRAQI ARMY PREPARED FOR THE WORST . THE 
GOVERNMENT PROCLAIMED A DUSK-TO-DAWN CURFEW AROUND NORTHERN IRAQ'S OILFIELDS, PUMP STATIONS, 
AIRFIELDS, AND MILITARY DEPOTS, WARNED THAT VIOLATORS WOULD BE " SHOT 
ON SIGHT . " IRAQI TROOPS BLOCKED ALL ROADS LEADING INTO 
THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS . NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS OF THE ARMY WAS BUSY 
BUILDING CONCRETE PILLBOXES AND FORTIFICATIONS COVERING THE MOUNTAIN PASSES . BUT 
DURING THE CEASE-FIRE THE KURDS WERE NOT IDLE . FOOD HAS 
BEEN STOCKPILED, ARMS REPLENISHED, AND A STANDING ARMY OF 35,000 READIED 
FOR BATTLE, BACKED BY A RESERVE OF 100,000 . THE REBELS 
ARE BUTTRESSED BY SCORES OF KURDISH OFFICERS WHO DESERTED FROM THE 
IRAQI ARMY, AND ARE LINKED BY A NETWORK OF 100 CAPTURED 
FIELD RADIO SETS . BUT AT WEEK'S END, THE GOVERNMENT CALLED 
FOR MORE NEGOTIATIONS AND PROMISED TO RECONSIDER KURDISH DEMANDS . INTURN, 
THE KURDS AGREED TO HOLD UP HOSTILITIES . " WE DON'T 
WANT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR STARTING THE WAR AGAIN, " SAID A 
KURDISH SPOKESMAN, " BUT WE AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE FAR APART 
LIKE THE DISTANCE FROM GROUND TO SKY . / 