peshmerga

A top Syrian Kurdish commander died Sunday, several days after sustaining injuries during a U.S.-backed campaign to unseat the Islamic State from its de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa.

The old peshmerga general smiled at the sound of the U.S. fighter jets. “That’s the sound of God,” he said.

First you notice the sound of jet engines. The sky is overcast, so you can’t see the coalition warplanes. But you can hear them. And you know what the snarl of jet noise and the occasional thud of an airstrike symbolizes for the Islamic State (ISIS) fighters about a mile away.

The Kurds survived the oppression of Saddam Hussein’s regime and are helping in the fight against the Islamic State, but will their desire for an independent Kurdistan be recognized?

The air war against ISIS is a tricky one for U.S. pilots. Without American troops on the ground, it’s hard to tell friend from foe.

What should Canada and the United States do in the face of the international refugee crisis?

As is the case for the poor, the Kurds will always be with us.

The world’s eyes are again on the Kurds.

Goran Mohammed had just completed his second year of university in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil when he dropped out to help his father run the family grocery store. When that still didn’t earn the family enough money, the 19 year old was forced to take a second job as a taxi driver.