The last thing the United States would want to see in the oil-rich Middle east would be a socialist Kurdistan. The prime motivating factor of US foreign policy is the preservation of capitalism and enhancement of corporate power and profits. The tender concern expressed by government officials and the media for refugees and victims of atrocities is for public consumption only. The United States facilitated the capture of Kurdish guerilla leader Abdullah Ocalan by intense diplomatic pressure on foreign intelligence to Turkey on his location. Now that a Turkish commando raid in Kenya captured Ocalan, it will be a miracle if he is not severely tortured.
Turkey has one of the worst records in the world for the use of torture.
This is not the first US Betrayal of the Kurds effort to obtain a homeland. In 1975 in an effort to weaken Iraq and please the Shah of Iran, the CIA urged the Kurds to revolt and provided them with military assistance. When it appeared the Kurds might be successful, aid was abruptly cancelled and Iraq brutally suppressed their rebellion, executing hundreds of Kurd leaders. The second betrayal occurred immediately after the Persian Gulf war, when the United States had several hundred thousand troops in the area. President George Bush urged the Kurds and Shiites to revolt and when they did, US forces did absolutely nothing and Saddam Hussein once again slaughtered them.