Trump may speak of disappointment, but the Kurds know the deeper history of betrayal

When Donald Trump says he will “remember” the Kurds, it is worth observing that the Kurds, too, have a long and painful memory. His recent accusation that Kurdish forces kept weapons allegedly intended for Iranian opponents should be treated with caution, not least because it sits within a broader history of mistrust, disappointment, and abandoned promises. History did not begin with Mr Trump’s latest grievance, and Kurdish memory is not so easily overwritten.

But it is the Kurds who remember.

They remember the referendum of September 2017, when the Kurdistan Region of Iraq voted overwhelmingly for independence and the democratic will of a people was treated not as a moral claim but as an administrative inconvenience. In this vast world, only Israel formally recognized the outcome of the referendum and asked the international community to take steps towards Kurdish statehood.

The Kurds had fought beside the United States and its allies in their military campaign against terrorism. Their Peshmerga had stood against ISIS when ISIS was still expanding like a black fever across the map. They had defended cities, roads, minorities, oilfields, and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)