In 401 BC, during the celebrated March of the Ten Thousand, the Greek general and historian Xenophon encountered formidable skirmishers among the unforgiving peaks of northern Mesopotamia.

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These tribal guerrilla fighters were the Kardouchoi. To this day, many within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) proudly claim this ancient tribe as their forebears.

While historical theories regarding Kurdish origins vary, and the people remain divided across several Middle Eastern borders, one thing is certain: the Kurds of Iraq still embody the fighting spirit of those mountain warriors who so impressed Xenophon over two millennia ago.

The Kurds in this region have weathered every conceivable hostility, from the genocidal brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime to the relentless threat of Islamic State. That pressure persists today. Since the conflict with Iran commenced in March 2026, Tehran has launched numerous missiles into Iraq, specifically targeting Erbil where the Kurds are the majority.

Erbil serves as the seat of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with the region led by President Nechirvan Barzani. On March 28th, a drone attack from a militia group targeted the President's residency compound in Duhok, whivh is near Erbil.

The barrage of Iranian missile and drone attacks, now exceeding 600, has struck infrastructure and US military facilities alike. More tragically, lives have been lost and many others injured. Once again, the world sees how for these resilient people, even within a supposedly modern global framework, survival and daily life remain two sides of an ancient coin.

The military force of the KRG is the Peshmerga, a name that translates as- those who face death. Over the years, they have received training and supplies from both the UK and the USA, but their soldiers have never been vast in number and, even with Western support, they lack significant heavy firepower. However, as their name suggests, what the Peshmerga possess in abundance is a defiant readiness to defend their land.

Western training has........

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