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Shiites were killed, and many more fled to Iran or to refugee camps
set up by the U.S. military.
Next, the Republican Guard moved north to attack the Kurds.
As Saddam’s troops brutally crushed the Kurdish uprising, more
than a million Kurds fled their homes and headed toward Turkey or
Iran. These refugees faced harsh conditions, including scant
supplies of food and water and inadequate shelter against the late-
winter cold of Iraq’s rugged mountains. Refugees began to die, and
a massive humanitarian crisis loomed.
After a period of hesitation, the United States, Britain, and
France finally took action to protect the Kurds, setting up safe
havens and declaring that no Iraqi aircraft would be permitted to fly
north of the 36th parallel of latitude. This prevented Saddam’s
forces from using attack helicopters against the Kurds. A similar
no-fly zone was later established south of the 33rd parallel, to give
the Shiites a measure of protection.
Protected from attack by U.S. and British fighter-jet patrols—
which enforced the no-fly zone from 1991 until 2003—Kurds who
had fled returned to their homes. The Kurds were even able to
create an autonomous region in northern Iraq, where they enjoyed
political freedom unknown in the rest of the country. Free elections
were held in May of 1992, and, in June of that year, an elected
Kurdish Assembly convened for the first time.
T
HE
E
FFORT TO
D
ISARM
I
RAQ
As part of the cease-fire that ended the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq agreed to
obey United Nations resolutions demanding that it recognize the sov-
ereignty of Kuwait and destroy its
weapons of mass destruction
.
In addition to chemical weapons—which it had used during the war
with Iran—Iraq had produced biological weapons, including muni-
tions filled with concentrated anthrax and botulinum toxin. Even
more alarming was Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. Although it
I
RAQ AT
W
AR AND
R
EBUILDING
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