Help Kurdish secular democrats to beat Islamic State

Help Kurdish secular democrats to beat Islamic State

By Peter Tatchell

Peter Tatchell (left) demonstrates in London, September 2014.

It seems that the British and US governments want to make the same mistakes again from the past with their plans for Iraq war number three. The first was in 1991, the second in 2003, and now the third in 2014. It’s only air strikes – for now – they say. And only in Iraq now, but not in Syria (yet). But when we look at the past, it may be difficult to stop. Have our leaders learned nothing from twenty years of bad foreign and military policy? It seems not.

To save lives and protect human rights, we must stop ISIS. But it is not the West who should stop ISIS and not for the reasons David Cameron and Barack Obama give.

The US has organised support from different countries against ISIS but the US is in control. The other foreign countries are only following the White House. This is where Obama is wrong.

The actions of the West will help ISIS to find support. ISIS will say that the West is attacking Muslims. Social media will show pictures of Western air strikes, and the civilian deaths. They will say these are more examples of attacks on Muslim lands and people. ISIS will then find more men to fight with them, more jihadis.

Cameron and Obama say that they must beat ISIS because they are a danger to Britain and the US. This helps ISIS. But the real danger is for Muslim people in Iraq and Syria. They are already suffering from the terrible actions of ISIS and face the biggest risks. The danger to Western nations is very small. Lesson one: don’t say that the danger to the West is so great and keep attention away from the victims in Syria and Iraq.

British and US leaders are suddenly saying that quick, strong action is necessary against ISIS. And they forget that in places like Kobane, in northern Syria Kurdish troops have been fighting ISIS for over a year. This shows how much Britain and the US see things from a Western point of view. During all this time, when the Kurds fought ISIS, the West looked the other way. Lesson number two: don’t think it was the West that started the idea of action against ISIS. And don’t think that the people of the region haven’t been fighting the so-called Islamic State.

The truth is that if the US and Britain really want to fight ISIS, they should help the people who are already there and know the region best. They should help the local people who are already fighting against the jihadis. They should help the peshmerga army of the Kurdish regional government in Iraq and the fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the local movements in Syria. They are anti-Islamist, they support democracy.

But the Kurdish forces do not have enough arms and equipment to beat the Islamic State. They need help now.

International help for the Kurds could be training, advisors, weapons, military intelligence, food and medical equipment. With extra help, they could be stronger against ISIS.

Kurdish protesters in London have asked for international help. They think it can help Kurdish fighters to stop ISIS.

A little late some Western governments are offering to help the Iraqi-based peshmerga. But they are not helping the forces of the leftist PKK, which the US and the EU are wrong to think are terrorists. But the PKK fighters are doing well against ISIS in northern Syria.

I hate war and I think it is the last action to take. But to stop the killing, the progressive anti-ISIS Kurdish fighters should have help from the West and all other countries. It was right to give military help against the Nazis in the 1940s. And it is right to help the people fighting against ISIS.

More information about Peter Tatchell’s human rights campaigns can be found on the Peter Tatchell Foundation website.

NOW READ THE ORIGINAL http://newint.org/blog/2014/10/03/support-kurds-against-islamic-state/ (This article has been simplified so the words, text structure and quotes may have been changed).