Sulaimania, Iraq - "The difference between them and us, is that they are coming to die on the battlefield, while our men want to defend their homeland and then return to their families," said one Iraqi Kurd who has been on the front lines in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
"There are among them Indonesians, Pakistanis, Chechens, and even Chinese. They've all come here to die in battle, to be martyred. How do you kill a man who wants to be killed? That's the dilemma."
There are dilemmas wracking every player on the scene in Iraq today, and no fewer among the country's Kurds, whose patience and patriotism are being tested by the seemingly never-ending war against ISIL. The mantra among average Iraqi Kurds these days is that if the Americans wanted to end the war, they could have done so.
Peshmerga forces making gains in fight against ISIL
As the United States comes under fire for its half-hearted efforts against ISIL, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters continue to man the front lines across northern Iraq. According to one brigade commander, morale is high, but the challenges are many.
Some 150,000 Kurdish Peshmerga troops are on active duty across the north of Iraq, even though they have not been paid their wages for over three months and carry outdated weapons. Political squabbling between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, has meant that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not received its share of the annual budget, and regional government employees, including the Peshmerga, have not been paid their salaries.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/iraqi-kurds-losing-isil-option-150924071658939.html
