ISIS Can Be Defeated and Eliminated by Kurds

By Arian Mufid:

Peshmerga troops salute Kurds in north Kurdistan/Turkey, on way to join Kobani resistance; Pic Vadim Ghirda/AP

Peshmerga troops salute Kurds in north Kurdistan/Turkey, on way to join Kobani resistance; Pic Vadim Ghirda/AP

For the Kurds, August 2014, when ISIS attacked the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) areas and tried to approach Erbil, represents so much more than just another example of Arab nationalism tarnished with Islam. ISIS was supported by Iraqi Arab nationalists and local Arab tribes in Mosul who wanted them to take control of Sinjar. ISIS forces attacked Sinjar with first-class weaponry which they had seized in their operation in Mosul, and the Kurds were surprised by their speed and ferocity.  ISIS wages brutal psychological warfare, spreading terror through mass rapes, public beheadings, looting and so on. Furthermore, Kurds in south Kurdistan didn’t expect to be attacked by ISIS because Turkey had conveyed the message to KRG leaders that ISIS was not interested in the Kurds. In consequence Western powers grew convinced that the KRG needed support in terms of more advanced weapons and training to help the Kurds counter-attack.

Since then Kurdish forces have managed to send dozens of well-trained intelligence operatives into ISIS-controlled territory to find out what they are up to. In some cases the intelligence supplied was so accurate that the Kurds almost knew what ISIS would do next. ISIS reacted very badly to this intelligence operation, but they executed the wrong people. The Kurdish forces of the KRG have captured hundreds of ISIS prisoners. The KRG Peshmarga and West Kurdistan YPG forces have killed thousands of ISIS up to now. But there are a lot of them, coming from Bahrain, Dubai, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Libya, China, Chechnya, Russia and so on. They all come and destroy their passports and, with the help of Turkey, cross the border into Syria to join ISIS, which has huge wealth at its disposal. From within Saudi Arabia it has received $22 billion, according to a Saudi general who spoke to a source close to KT. There are also reports of the financial backing it has had from within the Qatari elite.  Poverty, poor education – still too influenced by religion – bad politics by the West, together with several decades of dictatorships in the Middle East have destroyed  democratic culture and produced the worst criminal gangs in the region, on a scale almost unprecedented in modern history.

The only solid forces fighting against ISIS for the last several months have been the Kurds in the south and west of Kurdistan. Kurds have managed to halt the ISIS advance, of course with the help of air strikes by the US-led alliance. The history of the Kurds shows that they will not bow to invaders and oppressors. There are the examples of Sheikh Mahmud who fought British colonialists in the 1920s and of Kurdish resistance to Saddam Hussein. In the west of Kurdistan, the resistance of Kobani for more than 50 days is an outstanding example of the bravery of the Kurdish nation. As President Obama has said, ISIS must be ‘degraded and destroyed’. With adequate supplies of the most up-to-date weapons and training in the latest techniques, the Kurds can surely do this job.

One Response to ISIS Can Be Defeated and Eliminated by Kurds
  1. Khalil
    November 8, 2014 | 21:28

    There are numerous IS sympathizers in Turkey, too. Kurds in Turkey must defeat terrorism in North Kurdistan. 22 million Kurds.

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