re: Revenge of the Kurds

It's like Game of Thrones in the Middle East.

You got the Sunni who were once in control of Iraq but then pushed out and are now trying to overthrow both the governments in Syria and Iraq and are backed by Saudi Arabia. The U.S. supports them in Syria, but not in Iraq.

You got the Shia who are trying to hold onto power in Syria and Iraq and they also dominate Iran.

You got the Kurds who have a semi-autonomous region in parts of Iraq but deep down they really want their own country which would include parts of Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Sensing weakness in Iraq, they are moving to consolidate territory while the Shia's and Sunni's are fighting.

You got the U.S. who is backing the Sunni's in Syria but backing the Shia in Iraq and have a solid relationship with the Kurds as well. To complicate matters they are feuding with the Shia's in Iran but are allies with the Sunni's in Saudi Arabia. To make things even more complicated, they overthrew the Sunni's in Iraq and installed the Shia which kickstarted this whole process.

You got Turkey who is for the most part a force of stability and moderation in the region. However they are weary of the Kurds encroaching on their territory even though a part part of the population is Kurdish.

You got Iran who is an enemy of the U.S. and the Sunni's. However, they share goals with the U.S. in Iraq in keeping a Shia government in place but they are fighting the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in Syria who want to install a Sunni government.

You got Iraq which had a Sunni government that was overthrown by the US and replaced with a Shia government. However the Shia government is quickly losing control over of over 2/3's of the country to both the Sunni and Kurds.