Foreign fighters unwanted, Kurds say
Ottawa man says his organization unaffected by ban on volunteers
Kurdish officials are telling foreign volunteers who want to fight Islamic extremists in Iraq that they aren’t welcome on the front lines and they should stay home.
But an Ottawa man says his organization, created to provide military and other skills to the Kurds, won’t be affected by that policy.
A number of foreign adventurers, thrill-seekers and former soldiers have ventured to northern Iraq to join Kurdish forces to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL.
But the Kurdish fighting force, the Peshmerga, are turning those individuals away, saying that they are not needed.
Ministry of Peshmerga spokesman Helgurd Hekmat noted in an interview with the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw, that, “The Peshmerga is a professional fighting force.”
Hekmat said Kurdish law expressly forbids the admission of foreigners to the Peshmerga, although in the past several months some have taken part in the fighting against ISIL.
But Ian Bradbury of Ottawa, who formed the 1st North American Expeditionary Force, said his efforts to provide training to the Kurds are still underway.
“The recent announcements involving volunteers have no effect on our organization and the agreements we have co-ordinated,” Bradbury explained in an email. “We are not providing volunteers to KRG (Kurdish Regional Government). The 1st NAEF is providing services to KRG Peshmerga as coordinated through various levels of the KRG ministry and senior generals of Peshmerga forces.”
A number of Canadians have travelled to the region to help Kurdish forces fight ISIL. Dillon Hillier, a former Canadian soldier and a friend of Bradbury, returned in January after two months in northern Iraq. He is the son of Randy Hillier, Progressive Conservative MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington.
The younger Hillier has claimed that Canadian and U.S. special forces pressured the Kurds not to allow him and an American friend to take part in combat. As a result he returned to Canada.
Canadian military officers privately deny any pressure was applied. But they say Canadians who go into the region to fight or to provide military training are in danger of being taken hostage by ISIL and could put Canadian troops at risk if a rescue operation was required.
Defence Minister Jason Kenney has said Canadians who want to be involved in the war against ISIL should join the Canadian Forces. Kenny, too, warned about the dangers of freelance Canadian fighters being taken hostage.
Russell Hillier raised $17,000 from donors using a crowdfunding site for the purchase of nightvision goggles, armour plates and a gunsight for his brother. Another $500 of that money was to be used to ship donated medical supplies to the Kurds.
After Dillon Hillier returned home early, questions were raised about what happened to the money. Hillier has since posted a message on the site stating he donated the gear to a Kurdish soldier.
Bradbury’s not-for-profit organization is aiming to raise $4 million US and he noted he expects to reach that goal over the next few months.
He did not provide details on how much money has been raised so far.
The skills that Bradbury’s organization wants to offer the Kurds include combat medical response, advanced marksmanship, small-unit tactics, and explosives ordnance detection, among others.
But those skills are already being provided by U.S., Canadian, German and British special forces.
The Kurds have repeatedly said they don’t require additional training in their battle against ISIL but do need heavy weapons.