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Source: http://www.boston.com/globe/magazine/2002/1215/coverstory_entire.htm
The Wild Card in a Post-Saddam Iraq
(Boston Globe) Peter W. Galbraith - Kurdistan is the wild card in any U.S. plans for Iraq. Protected by American F-16s since a failed uprising at the end of the Gulf War, the Kurds today govern a Vermont-sized territory inside Iraq, stretching along Iraq's northern border with Turkey, from Syria to Iran. With five airfields, an extensive internal road system, and some territory only 100 miles from Baghdad, Kurdistan offers U.S. military planners a potential base for operations. The Kurds have no hesitation about supporting the U.S. in a war against a dictator whom they hold responsible for the murder of 100,000 of their compatriots. Most important, the Kurds possess considerable military assets.