# American dopers, what is your opinion of Americans fighting with Kurds against ISIS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847 "2015-02-04T23:44:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/21 "2015-02-05T23:43:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Untrained, don’t speak the language, be more of a threat to your prospective comrades in arms than the enemy. The news stories that I’ve seen, the Canadians going for this seem mainly ex-military actually. Language will be a problem of course. Eta: doesn’t seem like people are signing up in droves or nothing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/22 "2015-02-06T01:17:24Z")
What I wonder is legally speaking, what makes fighting for ISIS or recruiting for them a crime but does not apply to those who fight for the Kurds? Other than the fact the Kurds are on our side(ish), whats to stop these fighters be prosecuted when they return? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/23 "2015-02-06T01:51:29Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > What I wonder is legally speaking, what makes fighting for ISIS or recruiting for them a crime but does not apply to those who fight for the Kurds? > > Other than the fact the Kurds are on our side(ish), whats to stop these fighters be prosecuted when they return? Personally, I think slapping _any_ Isis fighters into the pokey immediately upon return and throwing away the key is just good policy. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/24 "2015-02-06T02:14:43Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > What I wonder is legally speaking, what makes fighting for ISIS or recruiting for them a crime but does not apply to those who fight for the Kurds? > > Other than the fact the Kurds are on our side(ish), whats to stop these fighters be prosecuted when they return? ISIS is a terrorist org & enemy of the US, and the Kurds aren’t, except for the PKK, which is considered terrorist. That’s tricky, because they’re fighting ISIS too. I’ll be curious to see if someone who goes off to fight these wars is more or less likely to engage in terrorism when they come back. The guy in the OP is already taking matters into his own hands because he feels the US isn’t doing enough. What happens when this guy comes home and decides the government isn’t doing what he likes? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/25 "2015-02-06T05:14:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > But I still say […] I’m going to avoid people with that sort of fanaticism. Well, since that’s how I feel about anyone who eagerly voluntarily associates with any military, I’m in total agreement. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/26 "2015-02-06T05:53:45Z")
The YPG and PKK fighters are having some disagreement (the former considers the latter undisciplined). Joining the latter makes me more :dubious:. I am generally okay with it. The government (as well as Netherlands, others) don’t condone it but figure as long as they aren’t fighting for enemies. War is often shades of grey but really YPG has done 99% good and ISIS has done 99% evil. My biggest criticism is the same as the one in post #17. It’s like starting a job and quitting after getting training. If they are motivated by _Into the Wild_-style idealism and are in over their heads. Jordan Matson is well known as **the** American fighter and seems committed. Another guy went, lasted about a week, and regretted it. I don’t particular admire people who don’t know what they’re getting into (although I appreciate his honesty in not drawing it out and I guess it’s his dime mostly). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/27 "2015-02-06T14:00:19Z")
On a personal level, it’s dangerous to do. I think those Americans who want to help the Kurds take it to ISIS should petition the government to send in our military to assist the Kurds. If an individual wants to do it, we can’t stop them but by the same token the US can’t be expected to assist them should they get captured. So if I was asked to join the Kurds, I’d say “no whey!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/28 "2015-02-06T14:45:10Z")
As long as they understand the risks and aren’t mentally ill or something, I don’t see why anyone should have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/29 "2015-02-06T16:07:32Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > What I wonder is legally speaking, what makes fighting for ISIS or recruiting for them a crime but does not apply to those who fight for the Kurds? > > Other than the fact the Kurds are on our side(ish), whats to stop these fighters be prosecuted when they return? ISIS is a designated terrorist organization, like Hamas and Al-Qaeda. The Kurdish YPG is not. As mentioned by someone else, the Kurdish PKK _is_ considered a terrorist organization by most Western governments. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/30 "2015-02-06T16:15:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > On a personal level, it’s dangerous to do. I think those Americans who want to help the Kurds take it to ISIS should petition the government to send in our military to assist the Kurds. Yeah, but such people probably think petitioning is too weak an approach. And they probably doubt such a petition would do anything; doesn’t the government get numerous petitions for all sorts of things? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/31 "2015-02-06T16:40:06Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Yeah, but such people probably think petitioning is too weak an approach. And they probably doubt such a petition would do anything; doesn’t the government get numerous petitions for all sorts of things? I was speaking in the more generic sense of the work “petition” meaning to request something as opposed to passing around sheets of paper. I agree, everybody ignores these but I would interpret contacting government officials as petitioning. ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847/32 "2015-02-06T23:43:54Z")
Volunteering to go off to fight in Kobani, say, is arguably not very different from going off to fight in Spain in the late 30s, as [this piece](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/08/why-world-ignoring-revolutionary-kurds-syria-isis) in the Guardian argues. I wonder how much of the difference in the scale of commitment of foreign volunteers is due to the almost complete lack of awareness of the [Rojava Revolution](https://rojavareport.wordpress.com/) in North America, say. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-dopers-what-is-your-opinion-of-americans-fighting-with-kurds-against-isis/711847.md?page=1)