Why fight against Western volunteers IS?

Veterans like Jitse Akse are few. For Jitse was the main reason to join the Kurds because he could function difficult within the Dutch society as a former soldier. He told me in Syria he was done with the Netherlands. Within YPG he could pick up his old military life and he gained respect for his knowledge. So while he could get a job difficult in the Netherlands. This is true for soldiers who are out of service.

The young Norwegian ex-soldier with the pseudonym Heval Zirek this also admitted. "There's not much you can do as a veteran, you can not go back to school. At the very least you can do something good, "he told me. Therefore, he has set up a field hospital for wounded Kurdish fighters in Syria.

eteranen also keep the often more crowded than adventurers. Many ordinary citizens like former models and actors have stopped their boring job and looking for adventure. They often do not last long full on the frontline where it is primarily to wait a lot. "Because there are no fights, they leave the battle," Zirek said. "Many people think that war is a Call of Duty game. There is no action and then they want to go home. "

In the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Sinjar I came as the Canadian Jason Troy against working in the oilfield and has only basic medical knowledge, but fought in Kirkuk and Sinjar. He was about to join as many of his relatives in the army, but was not accepted. "I got into trouble and I could not register with the army," he told me. "I came here, I think, for the glory. I can later tell my war story to my friends and family, and children. "

This also applies to the American volunteer Francisco Molinar (25), which are boring office job left for the action. "I wanted to fight against IS and the Kurds seemed to welcome volunteers."

But there is also another kind volunteers leftist revolutionaries, primarily from Germany, Spain, and Italy, which would provide the same struggle as the left-wing idealists who fought in the Spanish Civil War eighty years ago against fascism.
 
The German anarchist Heval Cihan Kendal told me in Syria that he had joined the Kurdish militia YPG to "fight for a free society" after he met Kurds in Germany in a leftist environment. The YPG, only active in Syria, is inspired by the ideas of the leftist PKK leader Öcalan, this while the Iraqi Kurds are only nationalistic.

"There were two reasons to join me, I saw the influence of capitalism and the oppression of women," he said. "I did not live in the [capitalist] system." For him, the struggle of the Kurds an opportunity to contribute to the revolution.

But in general there are not many left volunteers. "The majority come here to fight," said Ernesto Heval, a leftist Frenchman, who identifies with the leftist ideas of the YPG. "I come from a leftist background," he said. "But I wish I had more left [combatants] could see. I've only seen two from France and Spain. "

Some names of speakers in the above article have safety fictitious names. Wladimir van Wilgenburg made ​​in December for the following EenVandaag portet of Jitse Akse, when he was in Syria. Here he talks about his life in the country, fighting against IS and about his decision to fight with the Kurds: