1973 : (US & IRAN BEGIN COVERT EFFORT TO TOPPLE IRAQI GOVERNMENT; US & IRAN FUND KURDISH REBELS) Richard Nixon makes a secret agreement with Shah of Iran to begin covert action against Saddam's government. The U.S. and Iran then begin funding the Kurds in their battle against the Iraqi regime for an autonomous Kurdistan. (See interview with James Akins.) - "A Chronology of US-Kurdish History," PBS, of http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/kurds/cron.html.