While the U.N. showered plaudits on Yasir Arafat. it has treated the Kurds with indifference. brusquely rejecting Kurdish overtures because they came from "a nongovernmental agency." What hypocrisy! The Kurds wanted simply to live in peace and in their own way. International expediency has doomed their efforts. We should do all we can to facilitate humanitarian efforts for the Kurds. both for those who are refugees in Iran and for those who remain under Iraqi control. The United States. always known as the haven for political exiles. should accept the Kurdish leader Barzani if he requests asylum. The Kurds. a rugged mountain people. have inhabited their land for thousands of years.
Identified stereotypes
Kurds are described as a rugged mountain people.