September 11 is (also) the anniversary date of the Kurdistan revolution that began in 1961. From his assignment in Beirut, The New York Times Middle East correspondent Dana Adams Schmidt “disappeared in Kurdistan” during the summer of 1962 for 59 days. Avoiding Syrian, Turkish, Iranian, and Iraqi authorities, Schmidt trekked with peshmerga and rode donkey, mule, and horse across today’s Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Following this assignment he received a prestigious award, “For the best reporting requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad.”
Following the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy in July 1958, after twelve years of exile in the Soviet Union, Mustafa Barzani returned to Iraq in September 1958. Later, after his vehicle trip, U. S. Supreme Court Justice Douglas met Mustafa Barzani in Baghdad and wrote, “The leader of the Kurds is Mustafa Barzani, whom I know as a friend.”
Correspondent Dana Adams Schmidt spent some days with Mustafa Barzani in the mountains of Iraq. His observations, insights (notably his “Evaluation”), experiences, and conversations with Mustafa Barzani are well told in his thoughtfully enlightening book, 'Journey Among Brave Men' (Little, Brown and Company, 1964). Justice Douglas contributed the Forward to Schmidt’s book.
'The Last Years of Mustafa Barzani' by US Foreign Service Officer David Korn was published in the June 1994 issue of Middle East Quarterly, http://www.meforum.org/220/the-last-years-of-mustafa-barzani
Unfortunately, the Guide to Kurdistan is no longer available. Only a few of the 20,000 copies originally printed remain.
The exciting news is that we are introducing two unique guides-a revised edition of the Kurdistan Guide and the first ever full-color Guide to the Republic of Iraq. These two volumes will not only cover more than 500 archeological sites but also delve into the fascinating cultures of Iraq, such as the Yezidis and the Marsh Arabs.
The guides will be published initially in three languages, along with an electronic version, and will feature the latest mapping technology and other innovative features. While there are a few smaller guides to the region, none have ever presented Iraq in the manner in which these elegant two-volume guides will.
Upon completion, the Guides will be launched in several locations worldwide, including London, Washington DC, and locally in Erbil and Baghdad, Iraq. The launches will be coordinated with a public relations campaign aimed at bringing the wonders of Iraq to the world and the world to the wonders of Iraq.
The new set of Guides will be published in late 2025. Much of the production work has been completed, and we are now at a crucial stage of obtaining sponsors for this approximately two million USD project. Please sign up below if you wish to be notified when the Guide is available. t box. Click again or double click to start editing the text.
