Photo By Daniel Nelson | Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani signs a copy of his book "Mustafa Barzani,"...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, MOSUL, Iraq- When most people think of Iraq they probably don't think of lush, green valleys, twisting ravines with rivers rushing through them and snow covered mountaintops. The more predominate image people may get when they think of Iraq would be miles and miles of empty desert, with no water in sight.
For Brig. Gen. Robert Brown, the deputy commanding general (support), Multi-National Division-North, and Soldiers from Command Post-North, Task Force Lightning, this picturesque landscape was a reality during their trip to Barzan, Iraq, April 20.
The purpose of the trip was for Brown to meet with the president of the Kurdish Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, and discuss the current relationship between the new government of Ninewa Province, the government of Iraq and the KRG.
As customs dictate in this region of the world, a meeting typically consists of sitting around, drinking chai tea and catching up on how each others families have been before getting into the business aspects of the meeting itself. In addition to all of this, Barzani had a traditional Kurdish lunch prepared for Brown and the other Soldiers.
It was also arranged for Brown to pay his respects to President Barzani's father, Mustafa Barzani, and visit a cemetery where approximately 500 Kurdish men and boys who were taken and killed in southern Iraq during the early years of Saddam Hussein's regime are buried.
Exhumed from Iran and a mass grave in another area of Iraq, the remains of Mustafa Barzani and the Kurdish men and boys have all been given a proper burial in Barzan, their final resting place.
Prior to leaving for the cemetery and grave site, Brown was given a copy of the book "Mustafa Barzani," which was signed and written by President Barzani himself.
The group was first taken to the cemetery where they were told of how the families of the people buried there weren't sure of which grave was that of their loved ones because they had been killed so long ago. Identification wasn't possible for every person when they unearthed the mass grave site in the desert near Bussia, Iraq.
"The families who visit believe that their relatives are buried in the cemetery," said Maj. Michael Corley, the engagements officer for CP-North. "It gives them some kind of closure with knowing that their loved ones are somewhere in the cemetery."
Following their time at the cemetery, Brown and the other Soldiers were taken to the grave site of Mustafa Barzani who is considered the most prominent political figure in Kurdish history. Mustafa died in 1979 while in Washington D.C. and was buried in the Kurdish region of Iran. It wasn't until 1993 that his remains were brought across the border into Iraq and reburied in Barzan.
Brown, along with Lt. Col. Stephen Myers, Deputy Commanding Officer for CP-North, laid a wreath along the wall that surrounds Mustafa's grave. Before leaving the area, Brown took time to write a message in a book that is left for visitors to sign.
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2009 10:55 |
| Story ID: | 33165 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,203 |
| Downloads: | 940 |
This work, Brigadier General Brown meets with Kurdish president in Barzan, Iraq, by Daniel Nelson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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