ohpaix

The city is vigilant to prevent any sleeper cells from successfully carrying plans out. We do have a secret police force that monitors everything, and they're awesome at sniffing out plots and apprehending would-be terrorists. But there is also a serious responsibility placed on each individual to be vigilant and report anything suspicious.

At shopping malls and other points of interest, every car is checked for bombs. Almost all large and popular public places also require a metal detector and bag search upon entrance. Snipers and other guards patrol 24/7 any place that is a potential political or cultural target. So one lives with this kind of increased security, and it becomes daily life. Travel is also restricted at times of higher security. There are checkpoints for major cities and there have been times I was prohibited from entering or leaving certain places because of concerns on the road ahead.

As for how the U.S. ought to deal with ISIS, that's tricky.

ISIS is every bit as much of an ideology as it is an oppressive state. I would say one of the biggest things that needs to be done is the acceptance of refugees (which, I understand, is one of the most controversial things I could possibly say).

But I've been to the camps and especially with winter upon us, people are desperate. Our economy can barely support the Kurds, much less the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and Syrians. They're sitting ducks, easily conquered, waiting to be absorbed into wherever will take them - and if ISIS can trap them here, that's another several hundred thousand people for the caliphate to control, kill, or brainwash.

Aside from that, I don't think there are any good options - there's a reason it's being called one of the most complex situations in history. But unified, decisive action needs to be taken in some form ASAP.

I'm a chick, so I'll answer both ways.

If I became involved romantically with a Kurdish girl, there'd be absolute repercussions because homosexuality is intensely frowned upon by all but the most liberal. I'd say it'll become more accepted in the next 10-15 years, but who knows.

If I became romantically involved with a Kurdish man, it'd be fine. Western women are viewed as sexually free and liberated, and we can therefore do what we want (though Kurdish women would frown upon it if I dated Western-style) .

If I were a Western man romantically interested in a Kurdish woman - I'd probably need to play by the correct cultural rules or else I would risk hurting her reputation. But I'm not really sure to what extent, as I've not seen that situation played out.

No, it's absolutely true. The Kurds are making huge gains. ISIS is not the main issue at present for Kurdistan.

The two major political parties - the KDP (Kurdish Democratic Party) and the PUK (People's Union of Kurdistan) are on the verge of a war with one another. The current president is a member of one party geographically located in Erbil, while the other party has its geographic seat in the city of Sulaymaniyah/Sulaimani. Government employees in Sulaymaniyah haven't been paid by the government for several months, while the same job positions in Erbil have received their pay.

Most Kurds fear an imminent civil war that will destabilize the region and prevent the offensive against ISIS from being fully successful in the future.

Hey, you're welcome! I'm glad you like it. I've gone back and forth quite a bit on whether it would be of interest or not.

I guess the best way to indirectly support the Kurds as an individual is to defend their reputation. Reputation is everything to them, most people aren't distinguishing between any Iraqi or Syrian person and Daesh at the moment. The absolute best support would be educating yourself and others as much as possible about the issue so that people who hate the enemy as much as we do don't get lumped in AS the enemy.

Aside from that, internally displaced people in Iraq (Kurds and Arabs) in the refugee camps in Kurdistan are in need of donations. Several organizations are on the ground and I can get you hooked up with them if you're interested, but no pressure.

If you're interested in helping refugees (again, no pressure if you're politically against it) writing to your government representatives would probably be a great way to show support.

And my dream is to see a massive Internet movement of some sort that shows support - because it'll garner support for the issue in other ways too.

Mostly I think it's sad.

It's a massive amount of people giving into an ideology of fear and spouting ridiculous rhetoric as justification.

If those are strong words, I'm sorry.

But I very much do believe that this analogy is similar (bear with me, no analogy is perfect): let's say that everything goes to pot in the U.S. and a horde of people like Robert Dear become so convinced of the terribleness of planned parenthood that they organize sporadic shootings. They also take over part of Alabama, and they shoot anyone who believes in women's reproductive rights, and even some pro-life people who just don't agree with what they're doing.

Inexplicably they grow to a few thousand. They start to geographically expand. Everyone who is still sane in Alabama wants the heck out. Half of Georgia and Mississippi too. We start applying for refugee status literally anywhere that might take us. But places start to go, "Ah hell no, you're from Alabama? You're all a bunch of right-wing crazy fundamentalists who are happy to shoot people up if they disagree and you want to take away our rights!" And you say, "No! that's not true! I don't believe in it! I'm trying to escape too!" And they respond, "Well even if you don't believe in it, you're happy to let your buddies who do kill us. Or worse, one of em could sneak in here with you. We shouldn't let any of you in. Deal with the problem yourself. "

That's essentially what's happening.