There's a ground force in Iraq that is taking the battle to ISIS. It's not surprising that the force is the Kurdish Peshmerga. Predominantly Kurdish forces are now battling ISIS for control of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq. Others involved include the militia of the local Yazidi population, American advisors and American air power.
Sinjar is a very important battle. The city was taken by ISIS in its first push into Iraq in the summer of 2014. When ISIS took the city they began killing the Yazidis who form the majority of the population. Tens of thousands fled and took refuge on Mount Sinjar outside the city. ISIS then tried to starve the Yazidis to death, but planes dropped food and water and Kurdish forces were able to break an escape route for most of the people on the mountain through the ISIS lines. Ever since then, ISIS has controlled the city of Sinjar. The city itself does not contain much of importance, but it is one of the main points on the road that runs between the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria and the very important ISIS controlled city of Mosul in northern Iraq. If the Kurds take and hold Sinjar, they will have broken the supply line between the two cities.
Since ISIS first took Sinjar, the USA under president Obama has given hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons to the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Supposedly, some of those weapons were intended for the Kurds, but none were delivered. The Iraqis with all their weapons did nothing to confront ISIS in the northern part of the country. They did not do much elsewhere either. On the other hand, the Kurdish forces used old World War II weapons to fight the better armed ISIS forces and the Kurds have proven effective in that battle. It was Kurdish forces that held the city of Kobane in Syria and then pushed ISIS away from most of the Turkish/Syrian border. Now the Kurds are going for Sinjar.
One would hope that the USA is finally giving weapons to the Kurds for use in the Sinjar fight. Sadly, Obama seems to have assigned the decision on arming the Kurds to the same group that considered whether or not to approve the Keystone pipeline. Obama's plan seems to be that he will leave the decision on arming the Kurds to the next president. In the meantime, people are fighting and dying in the battle against ISIS. Let's wish the Kurdish forces success.
Sinjar is a very important battle. The city was taken by ISIS in its first push into Iraq in the summer of 2014. When ISIS took the city they began killing the Yazidis who form the majority of the population. Tens of thousands fled and took refuge on Mount Sinjar outside the city. ISIS then tried to starve the Yazidis to death, but planes dropped food and water and Kurdish forces were able to break an escape route for most of the people on the mountain through the ISIS lines. Ever since then, ISIS has controlled the city of Sinjar. The city itself does not contain much of importance, but it is one of the main points on the road that runs between the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria and the very important ISIS controlled city of Mosul in northern Iraq. If the Kurds take and hold Sinjar, they will have broken the supply line between the two cities.
Since ISIS first took Sinjar, the USA under president Obama has given hundreds of millions of dollars of weapons to the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Supposedly, some of those weapons were intended for the Kurds, but none were delivered. The Iraqis with all their weapons did nothing to confront ISIS in the northern part of the country. They did not do much elsewhere either. On the other hand, the Kurdish forces used old World War II weapons to fight the better armed ISIS forces and the Kurds have proven effective in that battle. It was Kurdish forces that held the city of Kobane in Syria and then pushed ISIS away from most of the Turkish/Syrian border. Now the Kurds are going for Sinjar.
One would hope that the USA is finally giving weapons to the Kurds for use in the Sinjar fight. Sadly, Obama seems to have assigned the decision on arming the Kurds to the same group that considered whether or not to approve the Keystone pipeline. Obama's plan seems to be that he will leave the decision on arming the Kurds to the next president. In the meantime, people are fighting and dying in the battle against ISIS. Let's wish the Kurdish forces success.
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