By Zuber Hewrami
WASHINGTON, DC – Kurds in Syria complain that their fight against al-Qaeda is going unnoticed and unsupported, while international attention remains focused on rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad.
"We are fighting America's war on terror right here on the ground," Dijwar Osman, a Kurdish fighter, recently told US based Foreign Policy magazine. "Our enemies are those al-Qaeda fighters who want to destroy our 4,000-year-old Kurdish culture.”
From the beginning of the Syrian civil war more than two years ago, the Kurds have chosen neutrality and tried to keep their areas out of the conflict. But now that they find themselves in a fierce battle with radical Islamic groups, they believe they deserve some recognition.
“Those who attacked the American people are now invading our homes, and attacking Kurdish people,” Salih Muslim, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) told Rudaw in an earlier interview. “We want the American people to stand with us in our fight against those who attacked them, and caused them deep grief.”
Last month, armed with light weapons such as AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, Muslim’s fighters known as the People’s Defense Units (YPG) seized control of Tel Kocer (Yarubiyah) -- a strategic border town between Iraq and Syria -- after weeks of clashes with al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusrah and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Yet, it seems that the world -- including America -- are only taking notice of the main opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA).
"We have some promises from the US administration of shipment of weapons in a short period of time, but until now we have not received any," FSA media coordinator Louay al-Mokdad said on CNN.
"We have logistical help, but we didn't get weapons until now. We hope that in the next short period of time we will start receiving weapons, because we have promises from EU countries and the US that they will help us and support us," he added.
Meanwhile, US Republican Senator John McCain -- a strong advocate for arming Syrian rebels -- visited FSA bases in May and posed with officers of the Asifat al-Shamal Brigade and FSA chief Salim Idriss.
The White House has so far resisted calls from the US Department of Defense, and the CIA to arm the rebels, but it has turned a blind eye on arms and cash flowing from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states into rebel-controlled areas.
In August Reuters reported that Gulf States had sent a 400-ton arms shipment to Syrian rebels. The aid from the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been in forms of arms and billions in cash. They have been providing cash assistance and arms to FSA from the early stages of the Syrian uprising.
"Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the north," said rebel official Mohammad Salam.
On the other hand, Jordan and Turkey have facilitated the delivery of arms to Syrian rebels and their military experts provided training and guidance to FSA fighters.
Retired Jordanian general Fayez al Dwiri told Reuters in August that if advanced anti-tank guided missiles supplied by Saudi Arabia reach the rebels in right quantities “they will affect the situation on the ground."
The United States and Europe seem to have lost some of their initial enthusiasm for Syrian rebels, especially after the FSA disintegrated into many splinter groups. But Arab aid keeps pouring into Syria, and the Kurds warn that it could backfire in the end.
“The Syrian Revolution has reached a critical point,” YPG commander Sipan Hemo told Rudaw. “In other words, radical Islamists are seen in the forefront. If the US and the West do not take Kurds into account, radical Islamists will take over, and that will cause Syria to break up,” he warned.
His warning was echoed by former CIA deputy director Mike Morell. “I'm concerned because where we're headed right now is toward, I fear, the breakup of the state of Syria,” he told CBS television.
