Some interesting facts about the Peshmerga and the Iraqi military include, the active involvement of women in both Kurdish and Iraqi military affairs, dating back to the 1920's, with frontline roles becoming increasingly common in the 1950's.
The Kurdish Pershmerga escorted both British and European scientists and photographers into Halabja, straight after the gassing of the Kurds in the late 1980's and were vital to obtaining both soil samples and evidence, which saw the first Duel Use sanctions imposed by Britain upon Iraq.
In the late 2000's, the information also allowed for the successful prosecution and conviction of European companies, who provided the chemicals used at Halabja.
The Peshmerga are native to the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, also known as Iraqi Kurdistan, or after the 1991 Gulf War, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and in their first elections after the Gulf War, welcomed British election observers from the Committee Against Repression and for Democratic Rights in Iraq (CARDRI), which included leading members of Britain's Parliament.
The Peshmerga are governed by a Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which in itself has diplomatic, economic and military ties with the international community. As part of the welcoming of the KRG into the international community, they also embraced international laws.
by Hussein Al-alak, editor, Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra)
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