Union Tribune March 21, 2003 Kurds' bonfires accompany shouts to defeat Hussein Attack on leader celebrated in north By MARCUS STERN COPLEY NEWS SERVICE CHAMCHAMAL, Iraq – Liberation bonfires burned across northern Iraq yesterday, marking the arrival of spring, the Kurdish new year, and war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Hours after the first U.S. missiles hit Baghdad, Iraqi forces fired artillery shells across a no man's land at this Kurdish village. Two hours later, they fired heavy machine guns. But by late afternoon, a line of dancing Kurdish men, staring directly into the mouth of the Iraqi guns less than a mile away, defiantly burned tires, sang traditional new year's songs and chanted, "Topple Saddam." March 21 is the Kurdish new year, Nawroz, and Kurds celebrated New Year's Eve by piling up old tires and setting them on fire. Nawroz also marks the beginning of spring. And bonfires have long been a symbol of liberation in this part of the world. "We're celebrating (Nawroz) a national holiday," said Samad Abdulla Rahim, 22. "But today we also celebrate the attack on Saddam." Many expressed hope a deadly fire would light the night sky over Baghdad in the days ahead, bringing an end to the Kurds' epic 30-year struggle against Hussein and his Baath Party. "I can't wait for the U.S. planes to come and liberate Kirkuk," said Shahab Ahmed Sherif, a 33-year-old Kurd who had fled the oil-rich city four days earlier. Nearby Kirkuk had long been a Hussein-dominated urban island within the portion of Iraq the Kurds have controlled since the end of the last Gulf War. The Kurds hope to make Kirkuk, an overwhelmingly Kurdish city, part of a Kurdish state if Hussein falls. "After they take down Saddam, I will return to Kirkuk," Sherif said as burning tires sent a dense cloud of acrid, black smoke into the sky from a hilltop near the remains of a 12th-century castle. The start of Nawroz is said to date to 612 B.C. when a blacksmith named Kawa Asngar led a rebellion against an Assyrian dictator named Zohak and liberated this part of the Middle East. Kurds are fond of comparing Hussien to Zohak, who, according to legend, had two serpents growing out of his shoulders that fed daily on the brains of children. Fire as a symbol of liberation goes back further in Kurdish history. Before the advent of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in these parts, many Kurds were Zoroastrian. The religion teaches of one supreme god, Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord"), and stresses that people are granted freedom of choice and are responsible for their actions. Yesterday, the Kurds built their fires with a strong new sense of hope.