A visiting professor to Springfield says a key to fighting back the Islamic State militant group will come by supplying aid to the Kurds. The ethnic group that inhabits adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey has been battling ISIS for months.
Dr. Michael Gunter is a professor of political science at Tennessee Technological University and author of 11 critically praised scholarly books on the Kurdish questions and co-editor of three more books on the Kurds, among others. His most recent book is “Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War.” He’ll be speaking at Missouri State University on Friday under the topic How to Defeat ISIS via the Kurdish Road.
Gunter says the Kurds are the only group in the area that are for the most part pro-American, secular, moderate Muslims, that can provide the ground support that the U.S. says is an.
“I think we can at least begin to hold the gate against ISIS by supporting the Kurds. I don’t know that we can defeat ISIS with the Kurds. But I certainly know we will lose against ISIS if we don’t find somebody to provide the boots on the ground to fight against ISIS,” Gunter said.
Gunter says the trouble with just airstrikes, which has been the focus of the U.S. military, is that it puts Kurdish allies at risk of being inaccurately targeted. He also doesn’t believe airstrikes are a viable option in degrading ISIS resources, noting boots on the ground is the best way to neutralize such resources like the oil wells ISIS controls.
He says the relationship with the U.S. and the Kurds is mixed, depending on which Kurds you’re talking about. Gunter says America’s Kurdish allies reside mainly in Iraq. Meanwhile, Kurdish groups in Syria are closely connected to the PDY, and those in Turkey are affiliated with PPK, which is on the U.S. terrorism list.
As airstrikes continue against ISIS, Gunter admits that even if Washington were to provide support for its Kurdish allies, it would mark just the start of a resolution in the region. He notes that state borders between Turkey, Iraq and Syria are crumbling before our eyes.
“We are seeing a redrawing of the map there in the Middle East. Indeed one associate of mine said that we only have 2 and a half states left in the Middle East. That means Turkey, Iran, and the half state is maybe Egypt. And the rest are just either tribe or event gas stations with flags.”
Last week, Gunter gave a graduation speech to group of university students in Iraqi Kurdistan, which he says enabled him to hear and see firsthand accounts of the events unfolding there. That’ll consist of part of his discussion at MSU.
The Thomas Strong Chair for Middle East Studies, the Political Science Department and the Global Studies program welcome Dr. Gunter to MSU’s Meyer Library Auditorium (Room 101) from 5-7 p.m. Friday. The event is free and open to the public.
