Peshmerga Forces Recruit Christian Fighters, says Local Official

RUDAW ^ | 1 hour ago | RUDAW

[GonzoII]

Men between the ages of 18-30 can now sign up for training with the Peshmerga forces, according to local officials.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces have opened doors to the region’s Christian population and recruit them to join the fight against the Islamic State (IS), an official told Rudaw.

“Representatives of the ministry of Peshmerga visited Ainkawa to recruit Christians,” said Jalal Habib Aziz, the mayor of Ainkawa, a predominately Christian neighborhood in Erbil.

According to Aziz, the Kurdish Peshmerga Ministry has answered a call by Christian leaders to recruit members of the community to “protect themselves and their areas.”

“We ask the young people of the Chaldean and Assyrian [communities] to register themselves to serve in the ranks of the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan,” Aziz.

Men between the ages of 18-30 can now sign up for training with the Peshmerga forces, according to local officials.

Ainkawa is home to hundreds of thousands of Christian refugees who fled Mosul and the Nineveh plains in June and August when Islamist militants captured their cities.

On other occasions, Christian leaders had asked the Kurdish authorities to arm their youth to defend Christian towns across the major frontlines between the Peshmerga and IS forces.

Similar units have already been created among the Kurdish Yezidi community whose young fighters are now battling the IS militants on Mount Shingal and its surrounding villages.

 

[GonzoII]

It seems a duty to me.

[TigersEye]

Other than Israel, if there is anyone at all to back over there it’s the Kurds.

[sagar]

Will these same Christians boo Israel? May be not now, but when their lives return to normal.

[PapaBear3625]

Is Israel supplying the Christians with training and arms?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks GonzoII.

[arthurus]

Kurds are moslems. I wonder how they reconcile their apparent broadmindedness with the Koran. I wonder if the Kurds will turn out to be normal Moslems after their own survival is assured.

[sagar]

“Is Israel supplying the Christians with training and arms”

They probably believe that Israel is training and sending arms to ISIS.

[Mount Athos]

I guess you’re cheering for ISIS to genocide them then?

[sagar]

Oh please. I just want them to be on the right side.

[353FMG]

Watch the backlash in our MSM.

Christians joining Peshmerga will now be compared to Westerners joining ISIS.

[piytar]

The Kurds have been an anomoly for quite a while, esp for the Middle East: Muslims who don’t oppress non-Muslims. In other words, actual “moderate” Muslims. They put being a Kurd first. Think that will last.

This also makes then apostates in the minds of ISIS and the Turks.

[HippyLoggerBiker]

Thanks for the post.

I find this quote:

“to serve in the ranks of the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan,”

to be interesting. Is that similar to declaring a “State” of Kurdistan?

[DuncanWaring]

Is that an M40 (106mm recoilless rifle) in the back of the truck?

[GonzoII]

A Muslim cannot be a Kurd; a Kurd cannot be a Muslim 26.12.2009 Translated from Kurdish by W.S.

[Mount Athos]

“Will these same Christians boo Israel? May be not now, but when their lives return to normal.”

Your question is like asking if the Jews in Nazi concentration camps were supporters of Socialism.

It’s a question in incredibly bad taste when they are being genocided right now. And what is the relevance?

” I just want them to be on the right side.”

Are we on the right side?

The USA is funding and training “moderate” rebels, who slaughter Christian villages and blow up churches. The Christian leaders of the country have BEGGED us to stop helping the rebels, McCain stormed out of the meeting with total disrespect.

We are allied with Turkey and Qatar, which in turn has supported ISIS campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Turkey has said they won’t let us use our bases there against ISIS, and ISIS thinks of Turkey as their best buddy.

Well why do you ask what these Christians opinion of Israel is?
Is Israel helping them in any way whatsoever? Israel bombed Syria several times the past few years, weakening it. Not in response to anything Syria has done. Syrian govt is the main protector of Christians in that country right now. So if you were a Christian in that country, what would you think? And what would you think of Americans who don’t give a damn about them because they’re the “wrong kind” of Christian? Who vote in an Islamist president that supports islamist takeovers across the middle east, bringing a campaign of anti-Christian slaughter?

[arthurus]

Yes it does. Saladin was a Kurd. His history is romanticized but he was every bit as ruthless and Islamist in the Levant as Moslem Brotherhood would be and ISIS is.

[sagar]

“Your question is like asking if the Jews in Nazi concentration camps were supporters of Socialism.”

Those Christians booing Israel and Cruz were doing from the safety of this country, so spare me the bullshit.

“Is Israel helping them in any way whatsoever? Israel bombed Syria several times the past few years, weakening it.”

It looks like you are not denying anti-Israeli sentiments among Christian Arabs, rather you are justifying it by saying how Israel is deserving of it. Let me tell you this: the hell with Syria. Bomb away!

[PAR35]

I want a Toyota pickup with that option package.

[buffaloguy]

You are correct about Saladin. It was a conquest and reign of terror just like ISIS.

This is what the Eastern Roman Empire was facing.

The first crusade was just, a response to savagery.

[buffaloguy]

You are correct about Saladin. It was a conquest and reign of terror just like ISIS.

This is what the Eastern Roman Empire was facing.

The first crusade was just, a response to savagery.