When the Yazidi city of Sinjar fell to ISIS last year, the U.S. got sucked into a new war. Now, who will lead the fight to re-take the town? Yazidis want to take point.
Christine van den Toorn has lived and worked in Sulaimaniya in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for five years. She runs a research and analysis company, The Primary Source, with former students from the American University of Iraq, Sulaimaniya (AUIS) where she taught Middle East history for four years.
The U.S. started bombing ISIS to save the Yazidis, many of whom served the U.S. Army during the American occupation as interpreters. What happens to them now?
The support of local Sunni Muslims has paved the way for the ISIS conquests in Syria and Iraq. They may yet be turned against it, but not by bombs and rockets.
Obama’s limited military help has raised hopes for some in Iraq. But Yazidi families despair as they begin to doubt they’ll ever find their sisters and daughters taken away by ISIS.
Interviews with witnesses show the Kurds who are now getting weapons and air support from Washington left the Yazidis defenseless earlier this month.