Kurds

I supported military action in the Persian Gulf and I rejoiced at the return of our troops. But my welcome home celebration for the troops was tarnished and quickly replaced by the sadness and shame of the Bush Administration's failure to respond to the plight of the Kurds. President Bush's unrelenting quest for photo opportunities is matched by the Administration's efforts to distort and mislead our country about this issue. The essence of the matter is food, blankets and medical supplies for the thousands of innocent Kurds who have fled from Saddam Hussein's terror.

After nearly two years on the film festival circuit, where it won many prizes, "Good Kurds, Bad Kurds" finally gets a national broadcast on PBS tonight (8 p.m., KCET). That it's taken so long can be no surprise to Kevin McKiernan, the documentary's producer, director, writer and narrator. Part of what the program covers is the reluctance of the U.S. media throughout most of the 1990s to report on the bloody conflict between the government of Turkey and its Kurdish population.

On a quiet stretch of road flanked by the rolling hills of northern Nineveh province stands a checkpoint many fear could become the next frontline in a new conflict over age-old issues of land and power dividing Arabs and Kurds. To the west lies the provincial capital, Mosul: insurgent-infested and, since April, governed by a hard-line Arab nationalist group that is seeking to affirm Nineveh's Arab identity.

For decades, Arab soldiers and Kurdish guerrillas battled by gun, by mortar, by rocket. Now, elections are the latest weapon in the struggle for land and power in Iraq's north. The ballot box has become a battleground in Nineveh province, a high-stakes combat zone where Kurds and Arabs will face off over the future shape of the country -- and confront each other over the past. The outcome could set the stage for another round of violence, which both sides insist that they do not want.

Masrour Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan regional government's intelligence service and internal security agency in northern Iraq, rarely speaks in public. He is the powerful son of Massoud Barzani, the region's president, and is seen as one of the next generation of Kurdish leaders expected to defend the autonomy Iraqi Kurds gained after years of war and instability.

Dutch police on Monday arrested 39 Kurds who were demonstrating inside the West German Consulate here, a police spokesman said. The Kurds accused West German police of harassing Kurdish groups in West Germany and presented a petition to a consular official. Dutch police moved in after the Kurds refused to leave the building. One officer was slightly injured.

Iraq announced a general amnesty for Kurdish rebels after the plight of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing alleged Iraqi chemical attacks drew expressions of international concern, diplomats said. Baghdad Radio said the ruling revolutionary command council issued the pardon for all ethnic Kurds involved in anti-government activities, apparently including an estimated 10,000 Kurdish guerrillas waging a campaign for independence in the province of Kurdistan.

Traffic stopped and people stood silent in the rain Friday as Kurds in northern Iraq commemorated the anniversary of a 1988 attack with nerve and mustard gas that killed an estimated 5,000 people. Saddam Hussein ordered the attack as part of a scorched-earth campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the north, which was seen as aiding Iran in the final months of a war between Iraq and its neighbor.

Last-minute wrangling over the wording of Tuesday's U.N. resolution on Iraq highlighted a dispute that could threaten the unity of the new Baghdad government. Kurdish leaders unsuccessfully pushed to include mention of Iraq's controversial interim constitution, also known as the Transitional Administrative Law. The law gives the Kurds special recognition and permits them to veto major government decisions. "If the TAL is mentioned, it will be regarded as an official document by the U.N.