Using violence as a form of governance never works, and it will not work in Iraq nor will it benefit people in the region. In the long run, it will only give way to more hate, conflict, and divisions there. The US government should revisit its foreign policy regarding nuclear talks with Iran and should include Iran in solving the region’s problems because it will benefit the US’s interests in the region in the long run. The best way to defeat ISIS is to make sure external powers such as; Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US stop supporting the ISIS and coordinate their strategy. All Sunni countries supporting ISIS to contain Iran’s shia religion sects. If they desire to stop the ISIS, they should not only not support the ISIL but also utilize the Kurds against them, because the Kurds have been fighting guerilla warfare for a long time and the Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria plays an important role in the fight against the ISIS.
Former Secretary of the State Collin Powell clearly stated it, “If you break it, you own it.” External powers did break the Middle East, so now external powers own it. This is how the rest of the world sees it. In the US both Democrat and Republican camps are saying, “You did it.” The truth is that everybody should say, “We did it.” Turks did it, Persians did it, Arabs did it, Jews did it, Americans did it, the French did it, Germans did it, Russians did it, and the Chinese did it; the major power players all contributed in some way to the mess in the Middle East.
Let me be clear about one thing; America is not an evil country as many people see it. America did not conquer Iraq to rape, pillage, and loot. Instead, they conquered to help the people to be free. The Middle East is better off without Saddam and would be better off without Assad as well. Furthermore, if the Kurdish minority is near getting their independent rule, to a large degree it is because of America. The goal of the former President Bush was to set up a stable, functioning Iraqi democracy. However, the definition of democracy for Muslims is different than for America.
The ISIS is likely committing genocide against the Yezidis, a Kurdish minority. Kurdish President Massoud Barzani vowed to defend his Yezidis brothers and sisters. But who are the Yezidis, and why is the ISIL trying to kill them? Many Yezidis are running from the ISIS to the mountains to hide since the ISIS is taking their villages.
Yezidis are a Kurdish speaking ethno-religious community based in Northern Iraq who practice an old religion influenced by pre-Islamic traditions. Yezidis, who follow one of the oldest religions, believe in one God and seven angels, the most important of them being Melek Taus or the Peacock Angel. They believe the seven angels were reincarnated in human form. Yezidis believe that in the creation of the world, Melek Taus assumed the form of a peacock and descended to earth to endow it with beauty and in the process met Adam in the Garden of Eden, giving him a soul and teaching him to worship regularly. Consequently, the Yezidis see themselves as descendants of Adam, but believe the rest of humanity came from the lineage of Adam and Eve.
In general, most Muslims do not like the Yezids. Many Yezidis suffered under the Ottoman Empire, and many of them were massacred. They have been brutally persecuted throughout the centuries and have been accused of worshiping the devil. According to Yezidis teaching, Melek Taus, the primary figure in the Yezidi religion, was a fallen angel, but received the forgiveness of God and was returned to heaven. In Islamic and Christian teaching, the fallen angel is never redeemed.
Yezidis believe that once God created Adam and Eve, he ordered the angels to bow to his creation. While the other angels did so, Melek Taus was the only one to refuse, because he believed that he should submit to no one but the Supreme God. He was then thrown into hell, his tears of remorse quenched the fires, and he became reconciled to God. In their view, he now serves as an intermediary between God and his creation.
For Muslims Satan or Iblis was the fallen angel who refused to bow down to Adam, and out of pride for this act, he was banished from heaven. Because of this Islamic belief, Melek Taus is often confused with Satan worshipers. Until today, many Muslims considered them devil worshipers and do not like them.
The founder the Yazidis religion is Sheikh Adi Ibn Musfair, who died in 1162. He is considered to be an incarnation of Melek Taus, so that his tomb near Mosul city in Iraq is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for the Yezidis.
Yezidi can also be found in Iran, Turkey, Syria, and many of them had already migrated to Europe especially to Germany and even to the United States and Canada. Their populations is estimated at more than a half million people. Yezidis pray facing the sun at sunrise, noon and sunset. Wednesday is their holy day, and Saturday is their day of rest. They practice a caste system with each marrying within his or her group. Their children are baptized at birth and circumcision is common.
Their religion is monotheistic and is not dualistic in terms of good and evil. According to Yezidis belief all people have good and evil inside of them, and choices are made free of external temptations. They believe in reincarnation like the Hindus.
The Yezidis’ best friend is the mountain to protect them from the savage treatment by other people. Recently, thousands of Yezidis have fled to the mountain Sinjar, where they are caught between the prospect of death by hunger and dehydration or by murder at the hand of the terror group known as the ISIS
Who is the winner of the chaos in the Middle East? Who is supporting the ISIS? The main victor in this chaos in the Middle East is the Kurds because if they play their cards right, the Kurds will soon get their independence. On the other hand, Israel wanted to create a proxy that would serve as a base for any future national interests for Israel. Without the help of external powers, the ISIS would not have survived this long. The other mind-boggling contrast is that when Israel kills civilians for their self-defense, the world condemns them. This ISIS group kills tens of thousands of innocent people only because they will not convert to their ideology or belief, and the world is relatively quiet about it. Those who are looking at the situation through Western eyes and seeing things as being about resources are wrong. The Islamic State makes it clear that this is about religion and all flows from that.
Turkey also had a hand in strengthening the Islamic State through underground arms and oils deals. The losers of this game are the Iraqis people. If anyone wants to bring peace, it is important for that person to understand people on their own terms, and not to impose his or her perspective on them. The ISIS’s terms are defined by their ideology of hate and exclusion.
Dr. Aland Mizell is President of the MCI and a regular contributor to Mindanao Times. You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com