Today's JG rants - The Kurds and study links pollution to violent crime

5 Questions for Carl Jylland-Halverson – Column of Oct 13, 2019, “Kurds’ sacrifice makes US betrayal demoralizing”

Who is our NATO ally, Turkey or the Kurds?

What was the mission ten years ago when President Obama committed troops to Syria – something he said he’d never do 18 times - defeat/contain ISIS or protect the Kurds?

Which Kurdish factions, who are often at each other’s throats, are our allies/ally -  the Christian Yazidis; the communist PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party); the communist linked and most powerful Kurdish faction in Syria the PYD (Democratic Union Party); the SDF (Syrian Defense Forces) a Kurdish umbrella force established by the US?

We’ve been in the middle of a Syrian civil war for ten years, how much longer would Jylland-Halverson have American troops policing Syria and the Turks to protect the Kurds?

Various Kurdish factions have been waging war on Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria since the end of WWI (1918 for the public school grads) when the geniuses that negotiated the end of that war failed to provide the Kurds a homeland when they carved up the Middle East.   Would Jylland-Halverson and his ilk be willing to make a WWII type commitment to protect the Kurds – the duration of the conflict plus 6 months – and deploy to Syria to enforce what is sure to be a generation’s long commitment?

The word “betrayal” keeps popping up with those in favor of the continuous war in Syria and the Kurds.  That word or loyalty, or honor, or integrity has little or no meaning to a large portion of the people involved in the 8 way sh*t show that’s going on today in Syria. There have already been so many deals and side deals made between the players you’d need an Ouija Board to figure out who’s on whose side. I guarantee you the Kurds would kick us to the curb the instant if they got a better deal.

 

 Sunday, October 13, 2019 1:00 am

Kurds' sacrifices make US betrayal demoralizing

Carl Jylland-Halverson

I wish I could say I was shocked to read that President Donald Trump had betrayed our Kurdish allies in Syria. Sadly, I was not.

America supporting strongmen or dictators over allies has been a familiar theme lately. Further, Kurdish history is one of unmet potential.

Kurds are a distinct ethnic group. There are about 40 million Kurds residing in Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria. They are the largest stateless minority in the world. Kurds are a proud people holding on to their history (the Sultan Saladin, multiple caliphs, and distinctive art, music, dress and food). However, to the four states that are home to Kurds; they are viewed as a threat to national integrity.

My experience with the Kurdish people was in participating in a medical mission to Kurdistan Iraq in 2017. There I provided psychosocial services in camps for internally displaced people. Specifically, I worked in camps in Kurdish territory that served Iraqi Arabs fleeing ISIS.

I was impressed with the Kurds' willingness to serve Iraqi citizens who were not Kurd. This inclusion extended to the Peshmerga or Kurd militia. They included Kurds, Arab Muslims, Christians and Yazidi.

The mission also brought me face to face with the lethality of ISIS.

I realize the president pulled our troops out of Syria, not Iraq, and that there are differences between Kurdish communities. However, the so-called Caliphate of ISIS was a large swath of land including cities, villages and countryside in northern Syria and Iraq. I was in the internally displaced people's camp in Kurdistan that was the first stop for Iraqis escaping ISIS-held Mosul. Mosul was the city in which ISIS had declared its caliphate.

The people arriving at the camps were starving. They were in shock and they feared that ISIS members had escaped with them. I met multiple escapees daily who had been tortured during their captivity. The atrocities they endured would scar families for decades if not generations.

While driving, we had to pay attention to the colored rods planted along the roadside. These indicated where improvised explosive devices, both live and spent, were. They numbered in the thousands and went on for miles.

We drove though villages that had been destroyed by ISIS. We could not enter the buildings because the Peshmerga had not had time to remove the dead.

I was in Mosul the day before allied forces began their push to liberate the Old City from ISIS.

This was at the end of Ramadan. The residents of Old Mosul had to mark the breaking of the month-long fast by eating grass and cats.

I was at the medical center closest to the front line. Helicopters were dropping bombs and, as we drove into the city, we had to unbuckle our seat belts so we could escape our vehicles if we encountered sniper fire. As I interviewed people, I could hear the gunfire behind me.

The first day of the door-to-door fight to liberate the city witnessed 3,000 people escaping to freedom. ISIS responded by sending suicide bombers to open markets. My colleagues' memories of the push for liberations was of beginning the day by filling body bags.

Many of my colleagues volunteering at humanitarian nongovernmental organizations in Mosul moved into Syria as allied forces made up of Kurdish militia fought to liberate the capital of the ISIS “caliphate,” Raqqa. I attended religious services in seven different churches in Kurdistan. Many of the congregants were Christians who fled ISIS-held territory and found refuge in Kurdistan.

I understand that, in this part of the world, there are no simple answers. Turkey fears Kurds in Turkey will seek an independent Kurdistan. They view the Syrian Kurds as terrorists. These very same Kurds have fought with Americans to bring an end to the ISIS tyranny. In the process thousands of Kurds have died, and many more people have benefited from this sacrifice.

We are now turning our backs on allies who freely expressed their love for America. We are turning our backs on allies who fought both al-Qaida and ISIS alongside American troops. We have turned our backs on the Kurds who hold 10,000 ISIS prisoners.

I pray the ensuing chaos does not lead to a reinvigorated ISIS. This is a land of long memories. Our discarding of our Kurdish allies will be remembered for generations.

I remember the men, women and children whose broken lives I have tended to; with whom I have laughed and cried and broken bread. I think of the Syrian refugees I have sat with as they shared their stories of violence and loss. I pray for their safety and I pray they somehow find it in their hearts to someday forgive our expedient betrayal.

Carl Jylland-Halverson is program director of the University of Saint Fancis' Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. He is also a member of the Ambassador Advisory Council to the Parliament of the World's Religions.

Re: JG editorial “Pollution-crime link reinforced in newest study” of Oct 12, 2019

If the study linking crime to pollution is accurate, the 400 or so most violent and crime ridden cities in the world should be in China.  Is that the case?  Or does this study, like all “climate change” studies, have as its sole purpose the hobbling of capitalism?

             

Saturday, October 12, 2019 1:00 am

Pollution-crime link reinforced in newest study

Violent crime rates and what to do about them are part of every election-year discussion. So is pollution, as the challenge of climate change looms.

Now a study suggests those issues could be linked.

Analyzing air-pollution data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and violent crime statistics from the FBI, researchers at Colorado State University and the University of Minnesota found that increases in the level of particulate matter or ozone in the air may correspond with an increase in violent behavior, the Economist reported this week.

The scientists refrained from speculating on why, and they cautioned that other factors not identified in their study might come into play as well.

“This is not the first time researchers have identified a relationship between pollution and crime,” the British news magazine noted. “In the 1970s America banned lead-based paint and began phasing out leaded petrol; two decades later, crime fell. Many researchers now argue that the two developments were linked.”

The researchers speculated that reducing particulate and ozone pollution could potentially reduce the number of assaults, the Economist reported. The costs of pollution reduction therefore might be offset by savings on medical care, police investigations and workforce productivity.