leadwitness

Moral is very high at the moment, especially since America started really pounding ISIS. They believe they will push ISIS out of Kurdish lands, which is their only goal at the moment. I specifically asked them that same question: "Why are you fighting?" they're response was they are fighting for humanity, fighting for the opportunity to live free and without fear regardless of religion or ethnicity. Remember the Kurds have been fighting for a long time, they went through hell under Saddam and so this is nothing new to them, same struggle, new enemy.

1. I was in Iraq for maybe 12 hours and I was sitting in a restaurant when a guy walks in with full military garb, looking rough, uniform ripped up. He sits down, orders a beer and starts smoking a shisha pipe. One of the guy I'm sitting with recognizes him and says "Wow man, I thought you were in hospital?" to which he replies "I'm on my way, just stopped for a beer." Apparently the guy had just come from the front, where he had been thrown 15ft in the air by an IED, breaking ribs, but instead of heading straight to the hospital, went for a beer and smoke. Tough as nails these boys.

They will use weapons when they capture them, however ISIS is quick to gather weapons from their dead when they retreat. From what I was told a lot of the stuff the Peshmerga were struggling with were ranged weapons like mortars and snipers. The Peshmerga also lack anti-armor which they desperately need. One thing to note is that at the time I was with them, America and the Brits had been supplying weapons however, none of them were making it to the front, because the government in Baghdad, who don't like the kurds were refusing to send them on. America needs to start bypassing Baghdad and send arms directly to the Peshmerga.

I'm personally not, I'm just trying to decapitate ignorance.

Having visited the refugee camps and talking to the people who escaped the ISIS advance I can confirm what everyone already knows from the media, that ISIS are a barbaric cult who live by their own made up rules. I had a woman tell me how all the men in her family were shot when ISIS invaded their village and all the girls younger than 18 shipped off to god knows where.

I was there the day America started the all out aerial campaign and my view, which is the same as the Kurds is that the airstrikes are a much needed turning of the tide. It took the pressure of the Peshmerga and has allowed for actual gains from the East. However, you can bomb all you like from the sky, the real work is done on the ground and either America and her allies put boots on the ground, or they supply the Peshmerga, who would be more than happy to hunt ISIS out of their land.