Iraqi Kurds find hope for freedom in attack by U.S.

Once Saddam Hussein is ousted, there'll be double reasons to rejoice, said Abdulkareem Shamdeen, who emigrated to the United States with his family in 1996, eight years after Saddam unleashed a devastating chemical weapon attack on Kurdish villages.


		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Salahaddin Shamdeen, left, and Fakhri Kassem look at a map of Kurdistan as they discuss Iraqi Kurds' plights at the Kurdish Human Rights Watch in Kent.

The war brings uncertainty to Kurds in Iraq, who have been fleeing northern towns and cities and heading toward mountain villages. They fear that if the war goes badly for Saddam, he may turn on them, possibly with chemical weapons again.

If not, Kurds still may get caught in the crossfire.

"We know they'll be casualties," said Salahaddin Shamdeen, Abdulkareem's brother. "But maybe the casualties would be less than what we'd have from Saddam's army in one year.

"To get something, you have to lose something. Nothing is without a price. And freedom has a high price."

More than 1,000 Kurds and Shiite Muslims, two groups that have endured ethnic and religious persecution for decades in Iraq, make up the majority of Iraqis in Washington.

Abdulkareem Shamdeen, a Federal Way resident who works as an interpreter and is familiar with the Kurdish community, estimates that 600 Kurds live in the Seattle area.

The immigrants don't identify themselves as Iraqis but as Kurds whose home happens to be within the boundaries of Iraq. About 3.5 million Kurds live in Iraq, mostly in the north, and are part of the 25 million Kurds spread mainly in the mountainous borderlands of Iraq, Iran and Turkey, as well as in Syria and Azerbaijan.

Together, the area comprises Kurdistan -- not a nation, but a source of pride and identity.

Saddam's forces have attempted to crush that identity on numerous occasions, most notoriously in 1988 when he used nerve gas and other chemical weapons to kill an estimated 5,000 people in Halabja and other towns in northern Iraq.

After the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq remained under Saddam's control. But other Kurdish areas to the north, protected by the no-fly zone enforced by U.S. and British warplanes, have achieved a measure of stability and democratic self-determination.

That created a "small heaven," said Salahaddin Shamdeen, a Des Moines resident.

While an independent Kurdistan remains a dream for now, Kurds in Iraq seek "recognition as a minority," he said. "To report to the central government and maintain our own identity, that'd be great."

They realize that as bad as things are in Iraq, it could be worse; in Turkey, Kurds are second-class citizens, their culture and language outlawed.

"We want our freedom, our land to be safe," said Ali Qadar, who lives in Renton and works for Kurdish Human Rights Watch, a non-profit agency in Kent that helps refugees with social, medical, educational and other services.

His son, Rawa, said his wish is for "Saddam to lose power and Iraq to go back to normal."

Kent resident Rahim Amin is optimistic, believing that the war will last "maybe one week. I think freedom will come very soon."

It will not be soon enough for Abdulkareem Shamdeen.

"Most people view Iraq as a country," he said. "We consider it a family-owned business, owned by thugs like Al Capone and the Sopranos -- Saddam and his sons and cousins.

"Hopefully, they'll be filing for bankruptcy. Their time is up. In fact, it's past due."

P-I reporter John Iwasaki can be reached at 206-448-8096 or johniwasaki@seattlepi.com

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