After the 1991 Gulf War, the US established a no-fly zone to protect Iraqi Kurds. They considered Washington a friend. However, in 1975, the US had abandoned the Kurds to Saddam after the Algiers Agreement with Iran. More recently, in October 2019, President Trump’s pullout from northern Syria allowed Turkey to invade the Kurdish-held region of Rojava, effectively betraying the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who had done the ground fighting against ISIS. For many Syrian Kurds, the USA is now a Jaani Dushman —a fair-weather friend who becomes an enemy the moment the battle ends.

Traditional stran (songs) like "Ey Reqîb" (Oh Enemy, or "Oh Watcher")—which has become an unofficial Kurdish anthem—directly invokes the Jaani Dushman as the ever-present spy, the state agent who listens at the door. The lyrics lament: "You are the enemy, a ruthless stone… You separated the lover from the beloved."

The Kurds do not have the luxury of forgetting who their enemies are. Every generation must learn the list: the Turkish general, the Ba'athist torturer, the ISIS executioner, the Iranian prosecutor, the Western diplomat who smiles and then signs a weapons deal with Ankara.