US Colonel Myles Caggins: Operations in Kurdistan distract from war with ISIS

2021-02-19 11:33:54


	 

	NEWS CENTER - Pointing out to the different agenda of Turkey in the region, International Coalition former Spokesperson Colonel Myles Caggins said the ongoing operations in Kurdistan distract from the war with ISIS.

	 

	The political, military, economic and ecological issues postponed or shelved due to the Covid- 19 pandemic are finding their ways back to the agenda. With the end uf the election process in the United States, many states in the Middle East are determining their positions again. Turkey continued its military operations in Iraq, Syria, Caucasus and the Mediterranean in this process. Lately the fact that 16 soldiers who were killed during the operation against the Garé district of Federated Kurdistan showed that Turkey will continue to try to solve the Kurdish problem with military means. The AKP- MHP government dealing with serious problems it created inside and outside of the country, is trying to solve things through military operations against North and East Syria. And in the meantime, the pro-government media trail their coats for war policies, writing about getting ready for war with the USA.

	 

	Will Turkey start a new military operation against North and East Syria which it sees as an enemy, what does the mobility of the local and regional forces mean in the Syrian civil war that has been going on for more than 10 years, What kind of a future awaits the Kurds and Syria, will the US stay in the region or not, does the US want a Kurdish state in Syria, who fights ISIS, how serious are they in their fight and what is their purpose? We spoke all of these with former International Coalition Spokesperson Myles Caggins who attracted reactions from Turkey, but earned the sympathy of the Kurds. Without further ado, read our interview with Caggins who is currently the spokesperson for the US Army 3rd Corps.

	 

	First of all, I wonder how you first met with the Kurdish people. Did you have any idea on what kind of people they are before you went to the Middle East? Did you meet any of them before you went there?

	 

	Before I went to the Middle East in the August of 2019, I did not have any Kurdish friends. I was able to meet Kurdish friends through my professional duties as a spokesman for the International Coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. I am a colonel in the United States Army and the global coalition has 78 nations and five international organizations that have been fighting ISIS since 2014 with our partners in Iraq and Syria. Those partners include the Syrian Democratic Forces, Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga. 

	 

	Can you share with us your first experience in Kurdistan, what did you expect, what have you found?

	 

	I remember my first experience in Kurdistan very much but let's go back a little bit of time in my career in 2003. I was a captain in the United States Army and serve with the fourth Infantry Division during an operation to topple Saddam Hussein, and the team I was with went to Diyala province. We went to Diyala province in May of 2003 in a area called Mansuriyah and Muqdadiyah. As we arrived in this area, there were Kurdish Peshmerga on the roads, they had checkpoints. And we were told in our intelligence briefing that if we see the Peshmerga, we should not attack them and that they are our friends. So that was my first time encountering Peshmerga. But it wasn't until 2019, when I started to develop a relationship with Kurdish fighters. My first trip to Iraq's Kurdistan region was at the end of October in 2019. This was the period shortly after the Operation Peace Spring and Turkey's invasion of Northeast Syria. It was also during the week that the US Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in Idlib on Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi where al Baghdadi blew himself up to prevent being captured. So there I was in Erbil. And in Erbil, I met a friend, his name is Shakawan Miro. Mr. Shakuwan leads the Kurdistan Region Security Council at the airbase that has a military camp in Erbil. And I asked Mr Shakawan, I said Mr Shakuwan, sir, I would like to talk to the media here. I think this is an important time to talk to the media and he agreed. And then he said he wanted to tell me about the history of the Peshmerga before we talk to the media. We sat down and he told me about the great sacrifices and the fighting spirit of the Peshmerga and the strong relationship between the United States and Iraq's Kurdistan region since before 2014, since before 2003 ,going back to the 90s. So this is a long history. We're people who have often mutual ideas, and certainly are focused on a prosperous future. And as much as we can on fair treatment of inequality for all people.

	 

	Can you share with us a memory of yours that made you surprised, sad or made you laugh?

	 

	I have many personal memories.  Let me give you a few of them.  Most of my time during the deployment, I was on the base in Baghdad near the US Embassy. There are six meter concrete walls, concrete blast walls around the base, and we cannot leave the base because of the security situation in Baghdad.  The presence of the coalition and US forces is much different now than it was 15 years ago when we were all over the country and driving everywhere. Now we're mostly on the base. But when I was able to travel to Iraq's Kurdistan Region and go to Erbil, I could put on civilian clothes take my uniform off. And I went down to the Citadel. And in the Citadel, this was before coronavirus,  I was able to walk around and get to enjoy some of the history and beauty of Erbil, but also meet some of the people. So I went to Mam Khalil’s Tea Shop, it's very famous in the Citadel. And the proprietor there, Kak Mohammed, we would sit and talk about politics. He said, 'I know you, you're the coalition spokesman. I've seen you' and we were able to freely discuss politics, not only inside Kurdistan Region or Iraq or the Middle East, but in the United States, too. And we would exchange perspectives and occasionally people who are also enjoying tea would join in on the conversation. It was great and also I had lemon tea for the first time in my life. I still miss the flavor. I miss the atmosphere, being around the people and starting to get to that hospitality that Kurdish people are known for and that hospitality and those relationships have extended to my time back here in the United States where I have met with with Kurdish people from Bakur, Başur and Rojava in Dallas, Texas, and in Washington DC.. and sometime if Corona ends I hope to go back again.

	 

	What was the first word you learned in Kurdish?

	 

	The first word I learned in Kurdish was 'Spas'. Then I learned Gelek Spas, Spas Dikim.

	 

	Rojava revolution went down on history as a women's revolution. You had a chance to work with Kurdish women, what can you tell about them?

	 

	I had limited opportunity to work with women in the Syrian Democratic Forces. And those were primarily spokes people. I met with Lîlwa Abdullah, spokeswoman for the Deir ez-Zor Military Council. We met and talked on Syria, and I was first impressed when I saw her on television, explaining military operations in their resort. There was a large operation to catch ISIS remnants. She was the primary spokesperson, the same role I had, and she did it so well. I also met Nisha Gewriye from the Bethnahrin Women’s Protection Forces. She's another great spokesperson. If you're in the Syrian Democratic Forces as a spokesperson, you're a fighter. You're a fighter first but you also talk on television. I was amazed by their grit, their strength and their morale. After six or seven years of continual fighting, and they each had personally lost close friends in the battle against ISIS, yet they get up, put their uniform on every day, they speak forcefully to the camera, confidently and competently about the operations being conducted by the SDF. In the Iraqi side, the Kurdistan Region, I had a working partner, her name was Miss Tania Aziz. She's a Kurdish woman from Silemani, who is now an American citizen. She and I were at the same place in Baghdad where she served as the senior cultural adviser and strategy advisor to the American general. This is a young girl from Kurdistan who was bombed by Saddam Hussein in Halabja. She still has the chemical burns on her from her childhood. She made an escape through Damascus and eventually made her way to the United States and became a citizen and is now back and she's fluent in English and Arabic Sorani. She advised me every day and told me to be a good friend to the Kurds, and I was so honored by partnering with her and her opening doors for me, culturally, teaching me some words, introducing me to some friends and reminding me that I always have to be a mountain to Kurdish people.

	 

	7 - What is your observation on the position and the approach of the Kurds in the war against ISIS?

	 

	Let's take a quick look at the history. When historians go back and look at the battlefield victories against ISIS, they'll see that the first major victory against ISIS was in Kobani with Kurdish led forces, defeating ISIS. At a time when the whole world thought ISIS was unstoppable. I mean look what they've done. They've taken over most of Syria, one third of the land of Iraq, taken down Mosul, the great city of Mosul. There were black flags going everywhere. But the Kurdish led forces under General Mazlum with some support from the coalition with airstrikes were able to fight and beat ISIS. Over on the Iraq side, Kurdish Peshmerga were extremely important to the mission to take back the Mosul Dam as well as the city of Mosul. Kurdish fighters from all parts of Kurdistan fought against ISIS. In Rojava and of course in Iraq's Kurdistan Region. There were also Kurds who came from other areas to join this fight to protect a common people. And it was my honor to partner with them and ensure that they were not forgotten. Because the coalition does not have many troops on the ground at all. The Kurds did most of the fighting, most of the dying, most of the martyrs and the people who were wounded were Kurdish, they were Arab Iraqi forces, and we as the coalition were there to support them as much as we can and part of that support for me in my role as the spokesman was making sure that they are not forgotten. 

	 

	What is the contribution of the Kurds to the world and the history of humanity in this war?

	 

	We talked a bit about the contribution.  But I must emphasize, the threat of ISIS was very real and it still continues. And it is the continued mission focus of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces that keep ISIS from coming back inside of Iraq and Syria. I've been been away from the region for about four or five months now, but I still follow the news closely. I still have friends who are in these fighting forces and friends in the coalition. And I stay abreast of what's happening and I'm confident that ISIS will never have physical territory again because of the efforts of the local security forces. I'd like to tell you another story. One of the, the things that I would do is look on social media for good stories to tell that we're being told in Kurmanci, Sorani, or Arabic language. And one time I found a story of some Kurdish Asayish Syrian Democratic Forces women's training for military operations. And I shared this video of these women training with a popular Kurdish proverb, 'A lion is a lion, whether it's a man or a woman'. And sometimes people would send me messages on Twitter and say, 'Wow you know Colonel you know so much'. What I learned is because I have people who helped me. Volunteers who would help me understand the culture and helped me with language. But it was more than helping the colonel in his uniform, this was about, 'We are helping you because we feel that we have a, a common experience with you. We appreciate your interest, and we seem to have a mutual concern and desire to make sure that Kurdish people who've been affected by ISIS and Kurdish fighters are always remembered in their important role'.

	 

	You said that there are 78 countries and five international organizations in the international coalition. Among the countries who fought against ISIS, what can you tell about Turkey?

	 

	There are many many regional military forces at play and certainly some of those forces make decisions that slow down or distract from the mission to fight ISIS. Those forces have different agendas and they are in some way, acting out on those agendas, because Syrian Democratic Forces are focused on the mission to defeat ISIS. There are regularly high level talks that happened between these different nations and we would tell everybody, 'Do not harm civilians reconsider what you're doing'. When I arrived there in September and October, there was an effort to develop a, what was called a security mechanism zone a safe zone between Rasuleyn (Serêkaniyê) and Tel Abyad (Girê Spî). And that was supposed to create space and time to prevent any sort of military operations from the north across into the South border of Syria, but it didn't. And there's humanitarian consequences for that tens of thousands of people had to move on no notice and go live with families or go live in camps, people had to close their businesses that houses that they have worked for all of their life. Why?  Because one nation decided that they feel unsafe and want to move into another nation for purposes that are not understood totally by me. This was a sensetive issue.

	It still continues to be a sensitive issue, heck it was a sensitive issue early on. I mean, look what happened to Efrin and look what's happening now with with operations in the Kurdistan Region. But in Syria in particular, this was a distraction from our mission to defeat ISIS and partner with the Syrian Democratic Forces. We still have a presence the American forces and coalition still has a presence in the north east, and Hasseke and Der Azor. And I think the signals now from the current administration again, I'm not a spokesman but it seems that we will continue to have our positions there in northeast Syria. 

	 

	According to Turkey, USA wants to establish a Kurdish state in Syria. Does the USA have such a plan or project?

	 

	I've not heard any of those plans but that's probably a better question for my colleagues in Washington DC. 

	 

	Do you think the international forces supported the Kurds enough in their war against ISIS?

	 

	International community can do more for support supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces in their mission of detaining ISIS fighters. The SDF can handle most devices on the ground in the Badia Desert and in the middle Euphrates River Valley, they've proven that. But now we have 10,000 ISIS fighters who are being detained in facilities that weren't designed to hold so many people. And a lot of the International nations are aware of this. There are more than 50 International nations who have fighters inside these detention facilities. Foreign fighters who joined ISIS, and the international community should do more to support the SDF to have safe humanitarian detention, which costs a lot of money has a lot of resources with time and training and good medicine and equipment, and also look for ways to bring back their citizens. The United States has done that. We have brought back ISIS fighters, who were captured in Syria in Iraq. We have prosecuted them in our courts, and they are in jail now. Each nation has to make their own decision, but meanwhile the SDF is holding the burden of these fighters. About 2000 of them are foreign fighters. Several thousand are Iraqi and the remainder of them are Syrian. It's a big big big role. SDF is a group that didn't even exist prior to 2015 and now they're running massive detention facilities for 10,000 people, and ensuring security at places like Al Hol camp and Al Roj Camp.

	 

	Some prisoners fleed from these camps during the operations of Turkish Armed Forces. How do you evaluate this?

	 

	The camps aren't perfect. These are not maximum security prisons, so some people will be smuggled out, some people will escape. One or two people escaping or being smuggled out is a concern, but it's one that can be be dealt with. There are bad people in the world. A larger concern is the health and humanitarian conditions. Imagine as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic. If you have one hundred men in a room where they're all laying with not even six inches apart and the rest of us are talking about having two meters apart.  If the pandemic gets in there, it could really affect people. And even though they're ISIS fighters captured on the battlefield, we still have in the Western world, a principle of safe humanitarian detention. So diseases, is always a threat. There's also the threat of uprisings of violence. And the longer everyone stays there the more these threats, increase. 

	 

	Have you ever witnessed an act of aggression of the Kurds against the Turks, to be more clear, does the Kurds think of the Turks as their enemy? And what does Turkey think about the Kurds?

	 

	Certainly there's a, there are some armed groups who have made the struggle for freedom. But in the coalition we partnered against Kurdish forces who were focused on fighting against ISIS. Sometimes those forces clearly had to fight on two fronts, but also were able to focus on anti ISIS operations. But I know that Kurdish people and the Kurdish forces are fierce fighters. They are very brave, obviously the word Peshmerga means willing to face death, and that type of ethos is clear on the battlefield as they faced, fought and defeated ISIS. 

	 

	ISIS started to be more active in Syria again. There is also a mobility within the international forces. As a soldier, what do you think will be the future of Syria, especially the Kurds in the Middle East?

	 

	This is going to take a while. There's a UN resolution 2254, where international nations are supposed to come to a settlement to end the Syrian civil war that that started in 2011, almost 10 years ago. And when that is resolved, maybe the autonomous region will still exist. I don't really know, this is something that will be decided by the Assad regime, Russia, and the Autonomous Administration will hopefully be at the table. There will be other players there but they will be coordinated by the United Nations. I try not to put a crystal ball on anything in the future. Because if any of us were wondering what was going to happen in 2012, we would have never imagined that some group like the Islamic State would take over much of Iraq and Syria. It was not nobody's plans. So I don't predict the future too much. I don't spend too much time doing that. What I do know, what I try to focus on is the fact that the longer the Syrian Democratic Forces are together with general Muslim as the leader, the better the coordination is across the military councils and governance councils and from stronger coordination in partnership with Kurds and Arabs and Armenians and Syriac people. Then there's likely to be longer regional stability throughout Northern Syria. 

	 

	Turkey says it won't use the S400 if the US stops supporting the Kurds. Do you think the US would accept this?

	 

	In my current role here in Texas, I'm not the spokesperson for that region. So again I'll refer you to my colleagues in Washington DC, or at the Embassy in Turkey for that. Or the State Department. So, I don't have a, an opinion on it. 

	 

	When your term in office expired you couldn't hold back your tears during the press release you held with the SDF Spokesperson. What do you want to say about this? Can you tell me what you felt back then?

	 

	During my 13 months deployed there, I developed a working relationship and as much of a friendship as we can with with Heval Mustafa Bali. He was spokesmen for Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as some of his deputy spokespeople including Kino Gabriel. And we planned a final press conference in Haseke. And at the Haseke press conference, this was just a few days before the end of my tour, we were going to exchange mementos with Mustafa Bali and I was a bit overwhelmed by the fact that so many journalists travel to Haseke and previously Rumalan, to come to press conferences. And they were interested in hearing what the coalition was doing to help the SDF. But also many of them, conveyed their personal appreciation for me reaching out to them. It has been years we've been fighting ISIS and the journalist in Rojava did not have access to talk to the coalition spokesperson. Most of my predecessors, the previous spokesman, they lived in Baghdad at the embassy and they did not get a chance to travel or they didn't make the effort to travel. They tweeted mostly in English sometimes in Arabic, not reaching out in as many languages, to the people who were affected by ISIS and fighting ISIS. And it was an emotional year. I think it was the most significant professional year of my career in the army. I've been in the army for 24 and a half years. The time in Iraq and Syria is the most professionally and personally impactful years for me because I was speaking on behalf of 78 nations and partnering with Kurds and Arabs. Those 78 nations I represented, they wouldn't even know where they are, or what languages they speak, and after this hard work, and after meeting so many great people, many volunteers from Bakur, Rojava, Qamishlo, Shaddai, Rumalan, Haseke, Dahuk, Koya, Silemani, Erbil and from all those little villages.. It was emotional. And for some reason, there were some media in Turkey, who attacked. I don't know why they would attack me personally for having a good relationship with a group who was fighting ISIS, but they did. But I never was afraid of these attacks, because I knew that what I was there to do was to partner with the Syrian Democratic Forces the same way I partnered with the Iraqi security forces. Major General Tahseen and Major General Yahya Rasool.. This was all the same. We were together, fighting ISIS. Making sure ISIS didn't come back and providing confidence to the local people that their fighting forces were capable and effective of preventing ISIS's return. And yes, I got a little bit emotional because it was an emotional time and I wanted to stay but I had to return back to my duties in the United States. And I've been so fortunate and so blessed to continue to maintain friendships with people in the region.

	 

	You have expressed your feelings, do you have a message to the Kurds?

	 

	Firstly, Zor Spas, Gelek Spas. My message to the Kurdish people is, is take from your history. Look at your history, the history of the Kurdish people. I look at some parallels with the history of black Americans. it's a history that, that is one where it comes out of the history of oppression, where you're robbed of your language, have your culture oppressed, but you still have to persevere and you can draw on the strength of your ancestors. To keep progressing forward toward freedom and prosperity. 

	 

	My message to young people is that I know your family is telling you to attend school, work and get education. This is really important. Because the education you receive will be your passport anywhere in the world. Maybe you are in a village in Mardin, Diyarbakır or Duhok right now. Try to learn one more language. Use the internet. 

	 

	And the last thing I'll say is I have been absolutely impressed and influenced by the hospitality of Kurdish people. I have been in homes where people have made the best meals. I've had conversations with Kurdish people of high government positions to senior citizens who are no longer employed, young people, old people, working people, military people. And everyone has treated me the same. And I think that is a testament to the character, and the values passed down from the ancestors, the generations before us. And again I am incredibly thankful and especially thankful to the volunteers who helped me. The journalist who would ask the tough questions, no different than today. And the continued interest in friendship. And the last thing is, as a military person, I'm always impressed by the bravery on the battlefield and the honour the martyrs and the fighters who are wounded, protecting their family and friends and villages, from the tyranny of ISIS. 

	 

	Do you think you will go back to the region? What are your plans?

	 

	In my career I'm a colonel, and I think I will retire from the military soon and enter the private sector. And there's a couple of things I'm thinking about doing when I retire. First, I maintain a relationship with people in Kurdistan region in Northeast Syria, and Southeast Turkey, and even some from Rojhilat. Maybe someday I'll return to Iraq's Kurdistan region to one of the universities there. And I would like to talk to students and lecture about American foreign policy and international relations and media relations. And I think in the Kurdistan region in the Middle East, in many areas it would be really good if there was banking. In the United States, we use a lot of mobile banking apps on our cell phones where we can transfer money. And that's not possible to do now, in many parts of Iraq and Syria. Money Machines, cash machines can improve commerce. A big corporation like Amazon does not have a presence in this region but a corporation like Amazon could invest in warehouses and logistics and roads network, hire local people. And then there could be goods that come in from outside the region that can improve the lives, productivity and opportunity for Kurds. So when I leave the military I'll look for opportunities. I've began an affiliation with a group called the American friends of Kurdistan. And they are a non politically aligned group. So they're an independent group of people who are interested in business and foreign policy for the betterment of all people of all regions of Kurdistan. And when I leave the military I can do more with that group. But I promise you I will be back to Kurdistan region as a tourist, but also there to to do proper formal work to improve the relationship between Kurds and Americans and the rest of the world, and also to inspire tourism business development and enjoy some lemon tea and wonderful kebabs. 

	 

	Your social media posts got reaction from Turkey..

	 

	During my time as coalition spokesman I used to tweet in 15 different languages. Languages of nations in the coalition including Japanese German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, of course, English, but also in Arabic, and Kurmanci and Sorani. I was conscious to use dialects. So I tried to reach the audiences as I was talking about local events in their local language which really seem to make the Turkish media angry. And so they said, "The coalition spokesman is tweeting PKK slogans". I was like 'What are you talking about?? I'm just tweeting proverbs'.And I knew that if I was being attacked by the Turkish media that meant the messages were getting home. No one would know about those tweets if they did not attack and wrote about it, but because they did, everyone heard about those tweets and they made the news. And there was a young, young boy named Alişher. Alişher is a young boy. He's about five years old and he's from Bakur. His aunt sent me a video of him saying 'Coalition Baba!'. So here's my youngest fan and I sent him a video later. And just, you know, meeting people like young Alişher over the internet and his aunt and his parents, it was just wonderful, quite endearing to me and it really gave me inspiration because there were bad days. There were dangerous days. Iran was shooting missiles at Baghdad, we were on the brink of war. But knowing that I had some friends online was helpful and inspiring and gave me encouragement.I receieved messages from the Kurdish people and Arabs too. I was getting meesages from Janoob, Iraq and Baghdad and Mosul, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Jordan who thanked me for getting the message out and that they appreciated me speaking in their language. They told that they learned some stuff they couldn't have learned otherwise. This is why I was relentless talking to the media, especially the Kurdish media.

	 

	Thank you for for providing this opportunity for the interview today. It was my honor. I appreciate this I'm thankful to all your viewers for tuning in. And I hope that I have an opportunity to travel back to Kurdistan region as safely as I can as soon as possible. And I look forward to meeting more friends from Kurdistan in the United States of America. And I wish everybody to be safe from coronavirus and love each other. And let's be optimistic for the future. 

	 

	MA / Sedat Yılmaz – Gözde Çağrı Özköse