WHERE FEUD AND FOLLY RULE

Nothing is more divisive than power and money. Only four years after the U.S. and its allies set up an enclave in northern Iraq to protect 4 million Kurds from annihilation by Saddam Hussein's vengeful army, the Kurds are threatening to annihilate themselves--because two rival leaders each hope to establish and control an independent Kurdistan overlapping the borders of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran. Massoud Barzani, who leads the western half of the enclave, is shy, soft spoken and uncomfortable around foreigners. Jalal Talabani, who controls the east, is a garrulous jet-setter who mixes well at embassy parties. The only thing...