Give The Kurds A Homeland

Proposed US bill: recognize Iraq’s Kurds as ‘partners’ and arm them directly

US presidential candidate: Arm the Kurds directly

Diaspora Kurds celebrate Newroz – just not together

Hear! Hear!

"The Kurds practice a moderate form of Islam, have a democracy with regular elections, and are blessed with what The Economist calls “a raucous media” and “a boisterous parliament” (if our cousins across the pond think the media and parliament is let-loose, it really must be). It is time the Kurds in northern Iraq were granted statehood and given greater military aid. This is the Muslim democracy we have been hoping for."

Back In Iraq

Retaking key Iraqi city will be no easy task

"For months, Kurdish peshmerga fighters have been taking up positions around Mosul, Iraq's second city and a stronghold for Islamic State extremists.

The city is now surrounded on three sides and in some cases the front lines are just kilometres away, says a spokesman for the peshmerga. But while the world increasingly expects them to take Mosul soon, Kurds don't: they're settling in for a long and bloody siege.

Mosul is strategically important to Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, as its one million-plus inhabitants make up as much as one sixth of the population living in the extremists' selfdeclared caliphate. Wining Mosul back would mark a turning point in the war against IS.

Last week, a U.S. Central Command official said in Baghdad the assault to retake the city would likely be launched in April or May. The attack would involve 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers from eight Iraqi army brigades, three peshmerga brigades and a police force trained in irregular warfare."

Putting ISIS On The Run

President Barzani joining world leaders at key Munich conference

"German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, the main organizer of the event, said that the meeting takes place as the world faces an “unprecedented upsurge in global crises” over the past year.

“We live in the age of the collapse of order,” he said, while he criticized the impotence of the United Nations to act.

“The UN Security Council should be resolving a crisis a week -- Iraq, Syria,” he said. “Instead, the council is blocked and so is any will to reform.”"

You don't say! /sarc

Kurdish leader on how to defeat ISIS

"Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said on Saturday that although Islamic State have not been eradicated, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters had succeeded in defeating the group's "myth."

"As you know we are in Kurdistan region since August last year in a very bloody and continuous war against this terrorist organization ISIS. And we can say that it has been a continuous war. We are very proud that the Peshmerga of Kurdistan and the people of Kurdistan managed to defeat the myth of ISIS. And now I can say that 15000 square kilometers have been liberated by Peshmergas from ISIS."

Here’s What It Will Take to Defeat ISIS

"Suicide bombings are a terror tactic frequently associated with the more militant strains of Islam. Might the Islamic State be committing suicide in a more literal sense?

ISIS unveiled perhaps its most gruesome video yet, the burning alive of a captured pilot locked helplessly in a cage. His tortured screams, flailing arms, and melting flesh leave an indelible mark on anyone who watches.

Yet it’s worth noting the victim is himself a Sunni Muslim, wearing the uniform of a country that is well over 90 percent Muslim, in service of a Muslim king who is now crying out for revenge against the Islamic State.

Thousands took to the streets of Jordan’s capital to denounce and protest against ISIS. The Jordanians released jihadi preacher Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, who denounced the pilot’s murder as “unacceptable in any religion.”"

[---]

"Pew’s Richard Wike notes, “Early in the last decade, Jordanians expressed relatively high levels of support for suicide bombing and confidence in Osama bin Laden, but this changed after the November 2005 suicide attacks on three hotels in Amman, Jordan’s capital.”

ISIS abandon dead in pre-dawn defeat

"ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - ISIS attackers were defeated by Peshmerga fighters early on Thursday in Mekhmour town, southeast of Mosul, with the militants abandoning 11 dead comrades.

Sirwan Barzani, top commander of the Gwer-Mekhmour front, said ISIS suffered heavy casualties in the thwarted attack.

ISIS also launched a multi-pronged assault on other Peshmerga bases early on Thursday, Barzani said, adding that the Peshmerga repelled the militant onslaughts in all areas."

Kurds get Snubbed

This should never have happened:

Kurds angered by anti-ISIL conference snub


Kurds Not Invited To Anti-ISIS Conference Despite Ongoing Battle Against Terrorist Group, Kurdish Leader Complains


Especially after this:

Kurdish fighters fly 250ft 'flag of victory' on hill over Kobane as ISIS supply route is finally cut after four months of bloody siege in 'Syria's Stalingrad'


Kurdish forces: Kobane is free

God Bless the Kurds

Kurdish Iraqi Writer: Stop Calling The Jews 'The Descendants Of Apes And Pigs' May they some day, sooner rather than later, have their own country.

Go Kurdistan!!!!

Kurdish forces have ISIS in retreat in Kobane

Kurdish forces kill tens of ISIS foreign fighters near Mosul dam

The Kurds Should Rule the Middle East

Heavy fighting resumes in Kobane between Kurdish forces and ISIS

"Khazyavayi said coalition fighter jets have also bombarded ISIS positions around the city at least four times today.

“ISIS hasn’t been able to make any advance,” he said. “On the contrary the Peshmerga and Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are moving forward and ISIS is on the retreat.”

YPG commanders say that they now control about 80 percent of the city and that coalition airstrikes have taken their toll on the ISIS militants."

I Had Never Heard Of These People

Good luck to them.

And here's another interesting article about the Kurds.

Count Iggy Resurfaces

Iggy was always much better at this sort of Ivory Tower baffle gab stuff than actually implementing solutions to political problems. Here's in interesting interview with him about the current round of slaughter in the Middle East:

Michael Ignatieff Interview:'Those Fighting Islamic State Are the Lesser Evil'

You Go Girls!!

Female fighters of the PKK may be the Islamic State's worst nightmare

"It’s an Islamic State fighter’s worst fear: to be killed by a woman.

In northern Iraq, where Kurdish forces are rapidly regaining territory held by the Islamic State, that’s becoming real risk for the extremists.

There are plenty of female Kurdish soldiers on the front lines. They’re smaller than their male comrades, but they talk just as tough as they prowl the battlefield clutching automatic rifles and vowing vengeance for those victimized by the Islamic State.

“We are equal with the men,” said Zekia Karhan, 26, a female guerrilla from Turkey who is with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK. “Every responsibility for a man is the same for a woman. We are treated equally, and that is why we are fighting.”"

Kill as many as you can!!

Go Kurdistan!!

Iraqi Kurdish oil nears US port despite concern in Washington

WTF does "Washington" want? That the Kurds should starve? They are blessed with a commodity the world wants and needs. Why shouldn't they be able to sell it? Moreover, they are far more friendly with the West than most of the countries in the region.

We Live In Interesting Times

The chicken has come home to roost.

I've thought, for some time now, that the reason the House of Saud supports the Muslim Brotherhood and others of that ilk is because they want to hang on to their thrones - a Danegeld of sorts. Looks like their luck may have run out.

Saudi king now trying to stop terrorists he enabled

"The old guard of Saudi Arabia is witnessing what may be a power shift — if not to Iran –certainly to Qatar who is funding lots of this terrorist activity as well – and with whom, you’ll recall, we negotiated for the release of Bowe Berdgahl. Meanwhile, quietly sitting and watching is Erdogan and Turkey.

My ace in the hole is simple: the Kurdish people."

What Britain Cobbles Together

...the Kurds may rend asunder:

Iraq Kurds Won't Give Up Territory, Leader Says

Iraq's Kurds rule out retreating from Kirkuk

Destination unknown: Will Kurds use oil to break free from Iraq?

Iraqi Kurds have no plans to give up control of Kirkuk

Iraq Breakup Made Easier by Turkey’s Détente With Kurds

As Sunnis, Shiites Battle, Are Iraq's Kurds Preparing to Declare Independence?

Is WWIII about to break out?

Iran warns Iraqi Kurds on independence

Oh My!!!

Islamists are getting beat up everywhere:

Rojava – Kurdish forces expell Islamist rebels

"On the third day YPG forces from Hasakah who had surrounded Tiwene (Al-Tuwinah) moved in and liberated the town. Tiwene was important since the town and the Poultry farm outside Tiwene was used as a base from where Al-Qaeda and the jihadists groups coordinated and exerted power in the surrounding areas. 11 civilians, mostly truck drivers kidnapped by Al Qaeda were freed in Tiwene."

[---]

"According to the official YPG statement 34 jihadists were killed, whereas two YPG fighters, both commanders, had been martyred in the clashes. Furthermore, 2 tons of explosives, a couple of vehicles and many weapons were seized from Al Qaeda. 29 villages and some Al Qaeda positions were now under YPG control."

[---]

"Female YPJ forces taking part in YPG operations is not something new, but as far as I know, it is the first time YPG officially acknowledges that YPJ special forces took part in a major YPG operation. Its probably an indication that we will hear more from female YPJ special forces in future operations."

Alright, girls. That itself, must just kill the Islamists. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Long live Kurdistan!!

If I Ever Reincarnate....

....I better not be a Kurd or a secular Arab dictator.

"Just weeks after the global media outrage over Israeli "crimes against humanity" in Gaza, the mainstream media is keeping strangely silent over allegations that Turkey is using chemical weapons against its own citizens in Kurdistan."

Or, God forbid, a journalist.