Canadian YPG volunteer John Gallagher died in Syria

[Tammuz]

John Gallagher was a Canadian volunteer in the YPG (the Kurdish militia of Syria). He recently died there, killed by a suicide bomber. He became 32 years old. In May this year, he wrote a post on Facebook explaining his motivations to volunteer in the war against IS. It is very well worth the read:

Why the War in Kurdistan Matters

It is the most passionate defense of secularism I have ever read, and the nihilistic, identity-political left gets the verbal spanking it deserves.

I checked out his Facebook profile, and among his "likes" are the Center for Inquiry. Interesting.

The best quote (in my opinion) of the post is below:

We live in a society that’s grown around a very basic philosophical principle: That the world around us can be understood using our senses and our minds. From this simple insight comes the moral revelation that all human beings are equal in this capacity, and therefore equal in dignity. This radical idea was the turning point in human history, before which all civilizations had been dominated by the idea that class hierarchies and racism were perfectly justified according to the revealed wisdom of ancient texts, and sanctified by holy men with a special relationship to some ‘divine’ power. We began to see justice as something which could be measured by its effects on living people, not as superstition.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, he believed in something and he was willing to put his life on the line to fight for that something. I respect that.

 

[SimpleDon]

A very impressive young man. The world that didn't know him is the lesser for his loss.

I am not very knowledgeable about Sweden but I would say that both sides of the political spectrum in the US would be chastened by this essay. The left in the US is much too tolerant of religion and firmly believes that the US's tentative actions against ISIS should stop. The right in the US are supporters of theocracy in the US but opposes in the least helpful way theocracies based on other religions. They more than any other faction in the US are responsible for the invasion of Iraq and the formation of ISIS, through their utter incompetence to get us to invade and then their utter incompetence handling the invasion and its aftermath. It is difficult to sort out any firm position that the right in the US has on military action in Syria beyond the certainty that they will oppose anything that our current president does or even proposes.

The general feeling that I get from both ends of the political spectrum is that the US shouldn't be the world's policeman. But I never get a response when I ask, who should be if not the US? The UN? It's paralyzed by indecision and bureaucracy. NATO? Lift the fig leaf and we are they with an extra layer of indecision and bureaucracy.

This attitude is even worse for the US because this is a mess that we made, it is our responsibility.

 

[J842P]

I tend to support the Kurds and wouldn't mind if the United States gave them support. As far as I can tell, they are the only group worth supporting in the whole damn region.

 

[Tammuz]

I tend to support the Kurds and wouldn't mind if the United States gave them support. As far as I can tell, they are the only group worth supporting in the whole damn region.

I lean that view too.

However, the Iraqi Kurdistan government seems to not always be so nice to minorities.

It could be that the Syrian Kurds are better in this regard. The Iraqi Kurdistan government adheres to a traditional nationalist philosophy, the Syrian Kurds don't (they don't even want independence from Syria). The Iraqi Kurdistan government has good relations with Turkey, the Syrian Kurds (PYD/YPG) are a PKK affiliate and has piss-poor relations with Turkey.

Turkey is also the major reasons why the West is catious in establishing closer relations with Turkey. Turkey absolutely doesn't want its domestic Kurds to get any funny ideas.

 

[bilby]

I get the impression that the Kurds are the good guys because they don't have the strength to do much that is bad.

Give them their own nation, with a strong army and internal security, and they might well turn out to be just as bad as anyone else in the region.

In the mean time, they get to be the underdog, with a lot of unquestionably bad people having a go at them. Which makes them seem like the good guys, to a western world that is obsessed with the totally fictitious idea that struggles should have good guys and bad guys (ideally with white and black hats on, so you can see who's who at a glance).

Struggles don't have good guys and bad guys. They have weak guys and strong guys. And God is on the side of the big battalions.

Everyone has the potential to be the good guys, if their leaders face consequences for being bad; and everyone has the potential to be bad guys, if their leaders have enough power to do as they please.

That's the strength of democracy - it limits the power of leaders to do as they please.

 

[Frikki]

Well, he believed in something and he was willing to put his life on the line to fight for that something. I respect that.

Loren take note. If you want to fight the Islamist menace, this is how you do it.

 

[Tammuz]

I get the impression that the Kurds are the good guys because they don't have the strength to do much that is bad.

Give them their own nation, with a strong army and internal security, and they might well turn out to be just as bad as anyone else in the region.

In the mean time, they get to be the underdog, with a lot of unquestionably bad people having a go at them. Which makes them seem like the good guys, to a western world that is obsessed with the totally fictitious idea that struggles should have good guys and bad guys (ideally with white and black hats on, so you can see who's who at a glance).

Struggles don't have good guys and bad guys. They have weak guys and strong guys. And God is on the side of the big battalions.

Everyone has the potential to be the good guys, if their leaders face consequences for being bad; and everyone has the potential to be bad guys, if their leaders have enough power to do as they please.

That's the strength of democracy - it limits the power of leaders to do as they please.

I don't quite agree with that. The mission of the Islamic State is unquestionably evil. Kurds struggling for their right not to be oppressed is a just cause I think. Kurds hypothetically oppressing others is not a good cause.

I think different causes can vary in goodness and badness.

 

[Nexus]

The general feeling that I get from both ends of the political spectrum is that the US shouldn't be the world's policeman. But I never get a response when I ask, who should be if not the US?

I have a response to your question. No one should be the world police. Lets local powers clean up their own mess.