Andrew Slater joins T.J. Holmes on the Brain Trust to talk about how the Kurdish military is increasingly in need of U.S. support to keep ISIS at bay, and why that is.
Andrew Slater is an English lecturer at the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Epiphany: A Literary Journal, and the anthology Fire and Forget by Da Capo Press. He served as an infantry and special forces officer in both Iraq and Afghanistan
These essays written by Iraqi students attending college in Kurdistan chronicle life in wartime for young people trying to study and survive in a country ripped apart by violence.
ISIS just captured the Iraqi town of Sinjar in the first major defeat of Kurdish forces. Religious groups that had taken refuge there are in imminent danger of being massacred.
The last Christians have left one of their holiest cities, running from ISIS demands to become Muslim or be slain—but as a final indignity, their money and even crucifixes were stolen.
Before a shot was fired, rumors of ISIS led Iraqi forces to flee Tikrit. As the army fights to retake the city, it’s up against a force made more powerful by the initial retreat.
ISIS’s success in Mosul could have something to do with the Iraqi government putting a general accused of carrying out systematic torture in charge of the city’s security.
Though ISIS is known for its brutal rule in Syria, many residents of the Iraqi city it just captured are so hostile to the Shia-led government in Baghdad, they have welcomed the group.
Iraqi security officials and locals around Mosul say that Kurdish forces have moved to block ISIS’ advance and are gaining ground west of the ISIS held city.
A former Syrian soldier describes the awful reality of the Assad regime’s war to Andrew Slater.
A former Syrian soldier describes the awful reality of the Assad regime’s war to Andrew Slater.