This great campaign ended with a Kurdish victory which had begun with the Kurds feeling helpless. A year later, Iran and Iraq arrived at an American-brokered agreement over a new agreed border in the seas of Shatt al-Arab. The price was paid by the Kurds and Israel, who were forced to cut ties to the Kurds. “Barazani felt a horrific lack of confidence,” Tsuri said, “He withdrew into Iran with his army. This was shocking to me. Instead of staying and fighting a guerilla war.”
Today, Tzuri Sagi says, based on personal information, that the Kurds are once again very worried, and not just from ISIS. They’re worried about the growing rapprochement between Iran and the US. “The Israelis are the only ones they trust,” he said.
Reminds me of the story someone told me - don’t know if this is real or not - about when Nasser in 1956, after the defeat in the Suez War, received the American ambassador who told him that US has pressured UK, France and Israel to withdraw. When the ambassador left, Nasser turned to his aides and said: “We learned a very good lesson today. United States makes a terrible ally.”