FB Post by Hal Van Hercke, 3/4/2026.
The Kurds — And Why You’re About to Hear a Lot About Them.
You’re probably going to hear a lot about the Kurds over the next few days. Here’s what that actually means.
The Kurds are roughly 40 million people with no country of their own. Their homeland, Kurdistan, sits across the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran simultaneously.
They are one of the largest ethnic groups on earth that never received a state when the modern Middle East was carved up after World War I. This is something they have never forgotten.
In Iran, the Kurds occupy the western mountain provinces along the Iraqi border. Predominantly Sunni in a Shia theocratic state, they have faced ethnic and religious discrimination for the entire life of the Islamic Republic, held down by the IRGC iron fist.
Those same mountains make Kurdish territory the most accessible entry corridor into western Iran. The precision of the U.S.-Israeli strikes, specifically hitting Basij suppression facilities in Kurdish-majority Kermanshah, doesn’t come from satellites alone. It comes from people on the ground who know exactly which building is being used for what.
It is reasonable to assume that U.S. Special Operations personnel, most likely 5th Special Forces Group whose area of responsibility is the entire Middle East, along with CIA intelligence personnel on the ground, are already working alongside Kurdish networks in those provinces.
This is exactly how the U.S. operated in Afghanistan in 2001, advisors on the ground, the fireflies before the storm.
On a personal note, we have used the Kurds before, as many as eight times by some accounts. And each time we left them high and dry. When you heard about Saddam Hussein gassing his own people by the thousands, those were the Kurds. They have paid more than once for backing the wrong side of a promise made in Washington.
I know more than one Green Beret that has left part of his body, heart, and soul with the Kurdish people.
If they are going to step up again in Iran, then whatever comes out of this needs to include something permanent for them. A real place on the map. Long overdue.
The Kurds are the most organized, most battle-tested opposition force inside Iran. They have been fighting this regime since its first day. They are exactly the type of resource we need, boots on the ground that no amount of air power can replace. They will be one piece of a larger puzzle that decides whether what comes next is stability or chaos.
Look for my evening post later today where I lay out one roadmap to long-term victory.
-HVH