March 5, 2025
In a recent episode of The Big Deal Podcast with Codie Sanchez, I had the opportunity to share some of my experiences from my time in Kurdistan. This region of Iraq, often misunderstood by many Americans, left a profound impact on how I view alliances, cultural dynamics, and the fragility of peace.
Kurdistan: Beyond the Stereotypes
Many Americans have misconceptions about Kurdistan. They picture a forgotten, desolate desert, but the reality couldn’t be more different. “It’s a beautiful, thriving metropolis,” as I explained during our conversation.
Though it’s a relatively small portion of Iraq, it’s more significant than you might imagine. The Kurdish people live across western Iran, eastern northeastern Iraq, southern Turkey, and northeastern Syria.
The reality of modern Kurdistan stands in stark contrast to the rest of Iraq. You’ll find movie theaters, restaurants, malls, and even supercars driving around with men in suits. The rest of Iraq is a very poor country. It is not nearly as modernized and doesn’t have the amenities that we do in the West or that you’d find in Kurdistan.
People also don’t realize that Kurdistan has remarkable religious diversity. You can be of many different denominations and faiths there, which surprises most people. In other parts of Iraq, this kind of religious diversity would make you a target. A fascinating historical note: the oldest continuously populated city in the world is the capital of Kurdistan – Erbil, Iraq.
The Kurdish people face different treatment depending on which country they live in. There’s a certain faction of Kurds that are treated like terrorists in Syria. The ethnic Kurds in Iran are welcomed as their own. In Iraq, it’s still a very heavily disputed area. The situation is somewhat similar to the China-Tibet dynamic.
The Peshmerga and Kurdish Society
During my deployment, I worked with a local military commander who had deep family ties to the region. His family had been there for generations, and he had built an incredibly successful telecom company that brought cell phone service to an area that had lagged significantly behind in modern infrastructure.
He was a peshmerga leader. The Peshmerga is the fighting force of the Kurds, operating under a unique service structure.
It’s like compulsory service, but only for about 10 days out of every month. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you come from – you serve in the peshmerga. This man had been a commander for the area, incredibly well respected and well regarded throughout the community.
From Allies Against ISIS to Enemies Once Again
One of my most profound experiences was witnessing how quickly alliances shift after defeating a common enemy. This occurred during the counter-ISIS campaigns and Operation Inherent Resolve.
I remember a pivotal conversation with this commander when we received orders to leave our area because an internal skirmish had broken out between Iraqis and Kurds. This happened just as ISIS was being declared militarily defeated in Iraq.
The Kurds and Iraqis have a long history of conflict. Saying they’ve had disputes is putting it mildly. The atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein against an entire generation of Kurds were horrific.
Despite this history, they had fought side by side against ISIS for years. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. There was hope that these two groups would find peace in their shared desire to rebuild Iraq.
The night before we left, this powerful, influential, and wealthy commander sat with us and spoke about their situation with resignation.
“This man who wielded incredible power, who had incredible influence, extremely wealthy, just sits there the night before we leave and talks to us about how this is just an accepting factor of history in the area.”
The Iraqis were pushing the Kurds back into their traditionally older territories – the very areas the Kurds had bled and fought to defend against ISIS. They had prevented ISIS from moving eastward through Kurdistan to the Iranian border.
They held their position and fought valiantly. Yet the very next day, the Iraqi forces turned their weapons on these same Kurdish allies.
The Perpetuation of Historical Conflicts
What struck me was how this cycle continued despite many of the individuals involved having no direct experience of the previous conflicts.
As I explained, “A lot of these individuals, men my age and younger, even a lot that were older, had not experienced the crimes against each other that their past generations were responsible for. And so it was a blood feud. It was, ‘We were bred and born to dislike one another.'”
This created an incredible feeling of helplessness. We had spent time, lives, and resources believing people could change, that the course of history might alter slightly instead of reverting to old patterns. But after defeating a common enemy and achieving a shared goal, they immediately returned to their historical conflict.
Lessons on Human Nature and Power
Through this experience, I observed how resources and power operated in this complex environment.
“I saw a guy with resources. I saw a guy who changed. I saw him be the leader of these people who would do anything for him, who fought and bled and stood there at the edges of existence knowing full well that the people who were helping him might turn their backs on him.”
And when history repeated itself, he returned to a life where his former partners no longer revered him for what he had done. His contributions became thankless, and he was taken advantage of.
I often wonder about the price of intervention. “For him, it’s an existential threat. He has to. But at least for just once had somebody allowed him not to live that fate, just tough to see, and then it crumbles into a civil war type thing. And it’s a messy, messy subject.”
My experiences in Kurdistan continue to shape how I view alliances, cultural dynamics, and the fragility of peace. They remind me how quickly things can change when common enemies are defeated and how deeply historical patterns become embedded in regional conflicts. These lessons have profoundly influenced my understanding of human nature and the complex interplay between history, resources, and power.
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