How about a Middle East in which young men and women study together at a university where no political party rules the campus, freedom of speech is encouraged and internet access is unrestricted.

Try, if you can, to imagine a Middle Eastern population that regards America with respect and gratitude.

It isn't a dream. It's a reality.

Welcome to free Kurdistan.

As my former comrades in the military struggled against terror and violent rebellion in central and southern Iraq, I was embarrassingly safe in the same country. While mortar rounds were landing in Baghdad and our military displayed its power and resolve in Fallujah, I was sweating in a traffic jam.

It was a great traffic jam. In this case, it was a sign of the economic progress the Kurdis have been making. And the only "terrorist" is the occasional lousy driver.

People walk the streets and live their lives without fear. And women aren't attacked for dressing as they choose.

The Kurdish capital city of Suleimaniye can seem like a giant construction site. But in place of the corruption that plagues development elsewhere in the region, much of the work is done under rigorous government-private sector partnerships. The Kurds are even implementing zoning codes and thinking about the environment.

Anyone who has ever been to the Middle East knows that this is just short of a miracle. The prime minister, Dr. Barham Salih, doesn't fit the pattern either. Instead of fearing him or hating him, the people love him - he's the closest thing Kurdistan has to a matinee idol. And instead of using his popularity to enrich himself or establish a ruling dynasty, he's encouraging democracy. (He's even had a kebab shop named after him. I'm still waiting for Bush Burgers in D.C.)

The University of Suleimaniye, devastated by Saddam, has been rebuilt and now has over 7,000 students. And they're a lively bunch - serious, hardworking and, most important, full of probing questions. Female students can choose for themselves whether or not to wear headscarves. Most choose not to - but everyone respects everyone else - and they all sit and study together. American parents of college-age sons and daughters could only envy the intensity and hunger with which these young people pursue education.

Go to that university and, instead of hearing anti-American protests, you'll hear how the 101st Airborne Division got their Dell computers through to them, red tape be damned. On how many campuses in the world do the students regard an American general (in this case, Maj. Gen. Dave Petraeus) as a hero?

The United Nations stole the money the Kurds should have received under Saddam. Now, the United States has redirected the remaining Oil-for-Food funds and the Kurds are using them with an efficiency never before seen in the region. Astonishingly, the money is really going to the people. Instead of the U.N.'s outdated, overpriced medicine, the Kurds can now bargain hard in the marketplace for the goods the people desperately need.

Most importantly, instead of succumbing to the culture of blame that plagues the Middle East, the Kurds have gone to work to build a better future.

Their country is still very poor. But it's free. And freedom really does work.

Business is encouraged, the government stresses the future, not the past, and the leaders are trying their best to work constructively with old enemies. De- spite horrific suffering in the recent past, the leaders are hopeful, not vengeful. They know that a unified Iraq may not work - but they're determined that the failure will not be their fault. And they cherish freedom.

Isn't this what we claim we want in the Middle East?

At a time when elements within both Sunni Arab and Shi'a Arab Iraqi society are trying to kill the Americans who liberated their country and when there is no sense of gratitude for our sacrifices, how can the Bush administration fail to grasp that the future of the region lies in what the Kurds have done successfully, not in the Arab cult of failure?

The Kurds are far from perfect. So are we. We're all human. But this small people deserves our respect and support - no matter what else happens in Iraq. If we truly want to help spread freedom, we have to start by backing those who have made freedom work - against tremendous odds.

Almost 100 years ago, Lincoln Steffens, an American charlatan, returned from the brand-new Soviet Union. Disembarking from his ship on a New York City pier, he told a great lie. A radical socialist, he said, "I have seen the future, and it works." I hope I'm more honest than Steffens was, but I'll paraphrase his words and say, "I've seen what the future of the Middle East could be. And we should all hope to God that it works."

Ralph Peters is the author of "Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace."