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In the early months of 2003, when the American invasion Iraq was being prepared, it looked as if the Kurds were willing to consider re-integration in a remade, democratic post-Saddam Iraq. The American planners of the invasion and administrators of the occupation had made it clear to the Kurdish leaders that they wished to see a united Iraq with a strong centre, and the Kurds appeared to concur. The two major Kurdish parties, the KDP and the PUK, had continued pleading for autonomy and federalism, which they have both written into their party programs, until weeks before the war. But then, not wishing to antagonise the Americans, the party leaders changed their tune and for a long time avoided even mentioning the words federalism and autonomy. They even appeared willing to accept the American demand that the Kurds' own armed forces, the peshmerga, were to be dissolved and become part of the new Iraqi army.

"From all four parts of Kurdistan and across the diaspora, Kurdish women from different geographical, political, and educational backgrounds pick up a pen, reflect, and remember. Going beyond exoticising stereotypes and patriarchal representations, Kurdish Women's Stories gives 25 women authorial freedom to write about their own lived experiences. With contributors ranging from 20 to 70 years of age, we hear stories of imprisonment, exile, disappearances of loved ones, gender-based violence, uprisings, feminist activism, and armed resistance, including first-hand accounts of political moments from the 1960s to today. Conceived as part of Culture Project's self- writing program, this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand the struggle of Kurdish women through their own words. Contributors: Diba Alikhani, Kobra Banehi, Khanda Hameed, Nazanin Hasan, Nafia Aysi Hasso, Deejila Haydar, Zhala Hussein, Ruken Isik, Seveen Jimo, Lanja Khawe, Nahiya Khoshkalam, Hero Kurda, Khanda Rashid Murad, Rozhgar Mustafa, Dashne Nariman, Bayan Nasih, Avan Omar, Nasrin Ramazanali, Mother Sabria, Bayan Saeed, Bayan Salman, Farah Sharefi, Susan Shahab, Simal (Anonymous), Shahla Yarhussein"--

Despite the claim that Kurds intend to remain part of Iraq, it is highly unlikely that they will remain within the country's borders. For the past 80 years or more, Iraq's centralized system of control has failed to accommodate the Kurds, and it is apparent that federalism, too, is a form of government that will fail to satisfy them. The Kurdish goal of independence is apparent in the system they have developed within their state, and this could challenge any future plan for further integration back into Iraq. This goal is also evidenced in popular demands for independence in Kurdistan and in Kurdish politicians' warnings that they will separate if violence, intolerance, or tyranny continue in Iraq. The nature of Iraq's divided society constantly produces civil war and intolerance, and the reality is that it is a nation dominated by ethnic-nationalism and clashing ideologies and interests, but lacking a unifying national identity. Therefore, it is not Kurdish secession that causes continuing communal violence; it is the forced unification of people with different interests and ideologies. Adapted from the source document.