Former US Serviceman Becomes a Hero to Kurdish-Americans
NEW YORK - As northern Syria’s embattled Kurds fight to push back Islamic State militants in Kobane, one man has been elevated to hero-like status by Kurdish-Americans, who watch the conflict unfold on television.
His name is Jordan Matson, a 28-year-old former US serviceman from Wisconsin, who joined Kurdish troops three weeks ago after using the internet to locate a friendly force to join and fight against the Sunni militia that is known as ISIS and ISIL.
“We pray for him while he is supporting those who are under the oppression of ISIS,” said Nawzad Hawrami, a community organizer in Nashville, Tennessee, home to America’s biggest Kurdish community. “He went there to support Kurds. We pray that he can return to his family safely.”
According to USA Today, Matson is recovering in hospital in northeast Syria after an ISIS mortar raid in Jazaa, on the Iraq-Syria border, left shrapnel in his foot. “Once I can put a boot back on, I’m back there,” he told the newspaper.
Dr Amir Sharifi, a Kurdish-American linguistics lecturer at California State University, said Matson’s battlefield courage had restored his faith in the US.
“I was in a state of despair about the apathy of the world towards the Kurds of Syria when I heard about Jordan Matson, who had joined Kurds in their battle against the monstrosity of the jihadists,” he told Rudaw. “Jordan has gone to the aid of those who are desperate for help in an unequal war against an enemy that has ravaged and terrorized the entire region and seems unstoppable.”
While Matson has won fans among Kurds, the US Government is more cautious. US officials worry about citizens travelling to Iraq and Syria to fight and becoming radicalized – possibly coming home with extremist tendencies and terrorist training.
Last Friday, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said she was unaware of any law barring a US citizen fighting alongside Kurds.
“We remain concerned about any citizen traveling to take part in military operations regardless… but we are warning any citizen from traveling there (Syria) for any purpose,” she told reporters in Washington.
At least three US citizens are reported to be fighting alongside the Kurdish force against ISIS.
Kurdish-Americans have urged the US to help Syrian Kurds defend Kobane from ISIS. US airstrikes have struck nearby ISIS targets all this week, helping the Kurdish force fighting on the ground to push back the militants, after the city came close to being overrun.
Washington’s policy is influenced by its NATO ally, Turkey, which has authorized the use of military force in Syria and Iraq but is reluctant to help Syrian Kurds, who have links with Turkey’s own restive Kurdish population.
As fighting between the ISIS and Kurdish forces in Kobane grew fiercer on Wednesday, US officials warned that air strikes alone will not save those defending the town.
“Airstrikes alone are not going to do this,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said. “They're not going to save the town of Kobane.”
US commanders intensified airstrikes on ISIS around Kobane on Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting armed vehicles, artillery and a troop carrier. But Washington’s plans to arm and train 5,000 moderate Syrians to fight ISIS are months from completion.
A three-week assault by ISIS on Kobane has claimed 400 lives and sent 180,000 civilians, mostly Kurds, fleeing across the Turkish border.