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sion of northern Iraq. After the Iranian army was forced from Iraq,
Saddam enacted a brutal campaign against the entire Kurdish pop-
ulation. Any Kurd thought to be a guerrilla or a supporter of Iran
was killed. Villages were totally destroyed and their survivors sent
to camps set up by the government. Mustard gas and nerve gas
were used on 67 Kurdish villages. Many of those who survived the
gas attacks were badly injured and horribly deformed, and the
countryside was seriously contaminated. In all, it is believed that
80 percent of the villages in the Kurdish area were destroyed and
60,000 people killed in this purge.
After eight long years, the Iran-Iraq War finally ended in August
1988 with a United Nations–sponsored cease-fire. Though Iran had
sustained heavier casualties, Iraq, too, was devastated by the war
its leader had started. Approximately 375,000 Iraqis had been
killed or wounded, and 60,000 more had been captured. Economic
losses were also staggering: cities, oil fields, and refineries had been
wrecked, and many areas of the country were in ruins. By the end
of the war Iraq owed about $80 billion, mostly to its Arab neighbors.
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Text-Dependent Questions
1. What is the ancient name for the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers?
2. Where is the Jazirah region? What is this area of Iraq like?
3. What is the best-known pass through the Zagros Mountains?
Research Project
Using the Internet or your school library, find out about the sort of creatures that live in the deserts of Iraq. Choose one,
and write a short report about it. Tell what the animal looks like, whether it is dangerous, what it eats, and how it sur-
vives in the harsh climate. Find photos online to include with your report, and present it to the class.