Turkey has already repressed Kurdish nationalism inside their border and Iraqi Kurds fear they will be next. They worry that when America launches a push towards Baghdad, Turkish tanks will roll south, crushing their fledgling state. Dr Barham Salih, Prime Minister of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan proclaims: “Kurds are victims of history. We have been given a lousy hand by the politics of major powers including the United States.” In 1991 Bush encouraged the Kurds to rise up against Saddam Hussein. They did, but America failed to back them. Recently uncovered footage smuggled out of Baghdad shows Kurdish men rounded up, tortured and executed in the aftermath. Hameda Hassan Mohammed was just 18 when Iraqi planes dropped the quiet bombs on Halabja. “We were blind and vomiting and our bodies felt like they were burning. We had blood coming out of our noses”. In those days Saddam Hussein was America’s ally and Kurdish pleas went unheeded. With America so desperate to deploy troops from Turkey, the fear is that it could happen again.

Produced by ABC Australia