Full piece here (published 06/17/14)
Not so fast.
Why would ISIS fight against the Peshmerga (Kurdish military forces) and the fleeing Maliki troops, and any opposition they face on the way to Baghdad?
As for the Kurds, why not just defend your land and interests, lay low and angle for the best, especially without provoking Turkey:
‘The Kurds have drawn their battle lines north of Mosul, across the south of Kirkuk province, and through northern Diyala province. So long as ISIS respects that line, Kurdistan would have very little reason to invite war.’
Why support American forces now when you’ve been burned in the past and America has so little influence?
Another VICE dispatch, talking to an Iraqi Army member having fled to Erbil, in Kurdish-controlled territory:
We could do much worse. This blog is generally sympathetic to Kurdish aims: Independent Kurdistan-A Good Outcome For American Interests?
In his book Where The West Ends, Michael Totten describes visiting Northern Iraq briefly as a tourist with a friend, and the general feeling of pro-Americanism in Kurdish Northern Iraq that generally one can only feel in Poland, parts of the former Yugoslavia etc.
Related On This Site: Longer odds, lots of risk: Adam Garfinkle At The American Interest’s Via Media: “The Rise Of Independent Kurdistan?”…From Reuters: ‘Analysis: Syrian Kurds Sense Freedom, Power Struggle Awaits’
Repost-From Michael Yon: ‘The Battle For Kandahar’…Dexter Filkins Book On Afghanistan And Iraq: “The Forever War”…Repost-’Dexter Filkins In The NY Times: The Long Road To Chaos In Pakistan’
Have always liked Vice’s reporting. Good to see them focussing on the crisis in Iraq.
Absolutely. They’re getting people on the ground in very difficult situations.
True but I doubt they will go outside of the Kurdish region. Kurdistan is likely safer than your average American city after dark. Of course the people flowing in from outside of Kurdistan all have a story to tell.
I bet they do, and they have their reasons as well.
Is Baghdad safe at all right now, do you know?
Yes, Baghdad is absolutely fine. My family is there now. Baghdad, will not fall because of how many volunteers ready to defend, plus the bulk of the Iraqi military defence spending was always on the capital.
Got it. I’m glad for that much at least, and all the best to you and your family in Baghdad, and may you know more safety and opportunity soon.
I’m hoping the Peshmerga will keep their interests safe and be tolerant of all, and those impulses which keep Iraqis together are stronger than those that drive Sunni and Shia apart, giving the ISIS strength, fueling Maliki’s sectarianism, fueling Iranian involvement, fueling Sunni anger and discontent, and fueling much of what’s going on in Syria that draws in all those foreign fighters.