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ISIS Lashes Out at Kurds After Air Strikes
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
September 24 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Warned that air strikes alone won’t defeat
44-year-old Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, President
Obama went ahead Sept. 22 with targeted bombings in Syria. Hitting the al-Qaeda offshoot called
Khorasan Group for allegedly planning attacks on Western targets, Obama didn’t
consider expected repercussions on the ground in Iraq and Syria. While joined by Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. finds itself doing the
heavy lifting again battling a shadowy enemy that’s already seized some 30% of
Iraq and Syrian territory. What the
White House didn’t expect was the backlash on indigenous populations, especially
the Kurds, from Obama’s decision to destroy ISIS. Without assets on the ground,
there’s no stopping ISIS from more beheadings, mafia-style executions and mayhem
on local Kurdish populations.
Stretched too thin to defend their own people over large areas of Iraq
and Syria, the Kurd’s Peshmerga fighters are a shell of their former selves when
they once battled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Saddam burnished his reputation as brutal tyrant gassing some 5,000 Kurds
with VX, Sarin and mustard gas in the Iranian border town of Halabja March 16,
1988. Despised by Iraq, Turkey and
Iran, the Kurds have sustained more than their share of indignity, only recently
recognized by the U.S. as an autonomous and independent region. While Obama recently decided to arm
the Kurds directly to protect their towns and villages from ISIS, the necessary
hardware, training and reinforcements have left many Kurdish towns and villages
undefended. ISIS lashing out at the
beleaguered Kurds poses problems for Obama’s strategy, potentially causing a
civilian massacre without boots on the ground.
Reporting a build up of ISIS fighters at the Kurdish border town of
Kobani, Ocalan Iso, deputy leader of Kurdish forces defending Kobani at the
Turkish border, expressed concerns about a potential massacre. “”The number of their fighters has
increased, the number of their tanks has increased since the bombardment of
Raqqa,” said Iso, worried that ISIS was preparing to attack. “Kobani is in danger,” watching
thousands of Kurds try to flee across the Turkish border. After ISIS attacked Kobani last
week, over 140,000 Kurds have been driven out of their homes, creating a
humanitarian crisis. Bombarding
ISIS positions from the air won’t stop a ground assault that could wipeout
thousands of Kurdish civilians. Iso
estimated that ISIS fighter were some 8 km [5 miles] from Kobani, begging the
U.S. to redouble its air assault.
Obama must do more or face blood on U.S. hands.
When Obama decided to start bombing ISIS Aug. 8 to stop a potential
genocide on Iraq’s ancient Yazidis, he realized that he could no longer ignore
ISIS. Watching U.S. photojournalist
James Foley beheaded Aug. 19 on YouTube changed Obama’s thinking about U.S.
intervention. While Barack agreed
with his Pentagon advisors to begin an air campaign against ISIS, it’s becoming
obvious that ground troops are necessary.
Watching ISIS retaliate against the Kurds for U.S. air strikes makes a
strong case for having some boots on the ground. “We call on American forces to hit their positions.
They are 8 km from Kobani.
They were 25 km away before,” said Iso, while the reports could not be
independently verified. U.S.
officials knew that their bombing campaign would have serious consequences to
indigenous populations, prompting ISIS to massacred more civilians.
Whether or not
the U.S. and its allies can “destroy” ISIS is anyone’s guess. At some point, it’s likely ISIS will
be driven into asymmetric [guerilla] warfare, abandoning seized territories and
vowing to fight like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
As U.S. air strikes hit their targets, it’s likely ISIS, like the
al-Qaeda affiliate Khorasan, will retreat from entrenched positions and take
their fight elsewhere. “Because of
the bombing in Raqqa, Islamic State has take all of their weapons and brought
them here. There are more Islamic
fighters in the laws two days, they have brought all their forces,” said
60-year-old Ahmed Hassan, a Syrian Kurd who fled to Turkey. Obama’s plan to only hit ISIS by air
endangers Kurds and other folks in the region.
Only U.S. ground troops can help prevent the kind of massacres that are
taking place as ISIS becomes more desperate with a relentless aerial assault.
White House officials need to urgently recalculate the current bomb-only
mission and consider the consequences on local populations. Watching the Kurds scrambling, running for their lives underscores the adverse fallout to
the current air campaign. “They
have heavy weapons. We are running
away from them. YPG [Peoples
Protection Units] haven’t got heavy weapons.
That’s why we need help,” said Hassan, urging the U.S. and allies to arm
the Kurds directly. Before the
world watches another ISIS massacre, Obama must urgently consider deploying U.S.
ground troops to protect against another genocide. Iraq’s beleaguered military is in no
position to protect the Kurds, while they face ISIS encroachment on Baghdad. Without U.S. ground forces, the
current aerial campaign could wind up harming local populations.
Once ISIS realizes they‘re under
relentless attack, they’ll lash out at local groups.
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