Iraq: Defeat And Flight

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Less than 20 miles north of Erbil, commander in chief Barzani was granting confident interviews from his luxurious new headquarters -- the concrete villa of Saddam Hussein in the hill town of Salahuddin. "We realize that an independent Kurdistan is out of the question," he told TIME. "All we want is the right to till our land in peace, the right to local government, the right to speak our language and have it taught in our schools." The rebel leader's bodyguard lounged around in the pink-and-beige interior, staring out through floor-to-ceiling windows at the snowy mountains glowing pink in the sunset. For Barzani, the rapid ouster of the regime from Kurdistan was vindication for his father Mustafa, who died in exile in 1979 after his own uprising against Baghdad failed. "We were all taken by surprise at the swiftness of our victory," Barzani acknowledged.

But defeat was equally swift. With the south subdued, Saddam was able to move 100,000 more troops north, rapidly outnumbering the Kurdish fighters. Within a week government forces had relieved the siege of Mosul, the third largest city in Iraq. In the same period, Kirkuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Zakhu and other Kurdish-occupied cities were reconquered.

The Kurds fought back bravely. But there was a stylized, almost medieval < ferocity to their resistance. The peshmerga were dressed in turbans and baggy khaki trousers. Along with their AK-47s, SAMs and submachine guns, they carried a traditional dagger stuck into their sashes. "I am very happy," said one peshmerga. He pointed toward the battle zone to indicate the source of his joy: "War." Possessed of an incredible sense of honor, the peshmerga buried all the Iraqi soldiers they killed with full military honors. Explained Idriss Makmoud, a peshmerga commander: "That is the honorable way." Attempting to retake Kirkuk, a band of warriors came under attack from Iraqi helicopter gunships near the town of Altun Kupri. As the aircraft came around again and again, the peshmerga opened fire. Suddenly a line of men rose up, wrapped their arms round one another and sang and danced. Only the setting sun prevented the helicopters from slaughtering them all.

Just three days after Barzani spoke to TIME, his headquarters was a shambles as the commander tried to pull his forces together. For want of a better communications system, handwritten requests for supplies and assistance, scribbled on pieces of children's notepaper, were passed from soldier to soldier until they reached the chief. There was little opportunity to consider each message. Hearing news that Kirkuk had fallen to the Iraqis, Barzani waved off a request for an interview. Said an aide: "We can't hold the cities. We cannot deal with ground-to-ground missiles, helicopters, warplanes and heavy artillery. How can boys and old men stand up to the Republican Guard?" His advice: "Leave as quickly as possible. The battle for the plains is over. Now we must continue the battle in the mountains."