American Anarchists Join YPG in Syria F... NG ISIS, Islamic State - Rolling Stone

24/03/2017 American Anarchists Join YPG in Syria Fighting ISIS, Islamic State - Rolling Stone
Țħě Ǻňǻřčħįșțș vș. țħě İșŀǻmįč Șțǻțě
Břǻčě Běŀđěň běfǿřě ǻ bǻțțŀě įň Șỳřįǻ įň Ňǿvěmběř. Čǿųřțěșỳ ǿf Břǻčě Běŀđěň
Ǿň țħě fřǿňț ŀįňěș ǿf Șỳřįǻ ẅįțħ țħě ỳǿųňģ

Ǻměřįčǻň řǻđįčǻŀș fįģħțįňģ İȘİȘ
Bỳ Șěțħ Ħǻřp
On the morning of hi fir t attle, race elden wa underdre ed for

the cold and hak from a out of traveler' diarrhea. Hi Kurdi h
militia unit wa camped out on the front line with I I , 30 mile from
Raqqa, in ria. Fighter tood around campfire of ga - oaked tra h,
oiling water for tea, their onl comfort e ide to acco. "I've never
een o dirt in m life," elden recall . When the time came to roll
out, he loaded a clip into hi Kala hnikov and clim ed into a make hift
attlewagon, a patchwork of tank and truck part armored with crap
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/american-anarchists-ypg-kurdish-militia-syria-isis-islamic-state-w466069 1/106
metal and poured concrete. elden took a elfie in ide it ru t ca in

and po ted it online with the caption "Wow thi freakin taxi tink ."
ŘĚĿǺȚĚĐ
Țħě Řěǻŀ 'Ẅǻř Đǿģș': Ħǿẅ Țẅǿ Ǻměřįčǻň
Ķįđș Běčǻmě Bįģ-Țįmě Ǻřmș Đěǻŀěřș
Read the incredi le true tor ehind the movie 'War Dog '
The re t of the militia piled into an a ortment of minivan , gar age

truck and ulldozer , and rode outh into territor I I had held for
more than three ear . elden wa manning a wivel-mounted
machine gun, the parched land cape arel vi i le through the ri ing
du t, when he potted a car packed with explo ive revving acro the
de ert toward the Kurdi h column. efore he could hoot, an
American fighter jet lacerated the k and an explo ion erupted where
the car had een, haking the earth for mile around.
It wa Novem er 6th, 2016. The Kurdi h militia known a the YPG – a

Kurmanji acron m for People' Protection Unit – had commenced a
major offen ive to li erate the cit that erve a the glo al
headquarter for I I . The YPG wa acked U. . air power and
fighting along ide a coalition of Ara and A rian militia . Al o within
their rank , though cantl reported, wa a group of a out 75 hardcore
lefti t , anarchi t and communi t from urope and America, elden
among them, fighting to defend a ociali t enclave roughl the ize of
Ma achu ett .
elden, who i 27, tarted tweeting photo of the front hortl after
arriving in ria in Octo er. The fir t widel hared image howed him
crouched in hi YPG uniform, wearing thick udd Holl gla e , a
cigarette dangling from the corner of hi mouth, a tra pupp in one
hand and a niper rifle in the other. "To mi quote Celine," the po t
read, "when ou're in, ou're in." He ha ince ama ed 19,000
follower under the handle Pi PigGranddad, puzzling the Internet

with a com ination of lefti t invective and currilou ro humor.
Tweet like "Heading to the Quandil Mountain to lecture the PKK
a out entitlement reform" are followed "The dude with the lam
ailed o now we're fucked for dinner."
elden had no militar experience efore joining the YPG. He lived in

an Franci co, where he arranged flower for a living. efore that, he
wa a elf-de cri ed lumpenproletariat, a lowlife punk and pett
criminal with a heroin ha it who tarted reading Marx and Lenin
eriou l in reha . Once o er, he got involved in lefti t cau e ,
marching for tenant ' right , locking eviction , prote ting police
rutalit . A he prepared for the Middle a t, hi girlfriend thought he
wa going to do humanitarian work. he wa "not toked," elden a ,
to learn that he planned to fight along ide the YPG.
The fir t pha e of the Raqqa offen ive wa a mi ion to take Tal
aman, a atellite village of 10,000 people 17 mile north of Raqqa
proper. "We pu hed up to Tal aman till we had it urrounded on a half
circle," elden a , "then we ju t om arded the hit out of it."
Refugee poured out of the village, eeking protection ehind Kurdi h
line . "Hundred of civilian coming acro for da in a row," elden
a . At night, hi unit ta ed in whatever uilding the 'd ju t taken,
camped out on rooftop in the excruciating cold. "The fir t week we
were out it wa awful," elden a . The tepmother of a fellow
volunteer from the U. . had gotten elden' num er. he kept texting
to make ure the were eating enough.
The march on Raqqa lowed to a halt after two week , a the YPG
con olidated it hold over a tring of li erated village . The YPG
control a region of 4 million people in northern ria known a
Rojava. It ten of thou and of motivated fighter have een attling
I I for five ear . American a well a French warplane have een

covering their maneuver with air trike for the pa t two, forcing I I
off the road and highwa and open de ert, and ack into the ur an
tronghold of Mo ul and Raqqa. Now, the Kurd are kicking the door
down in oth citie .
ut the YPG i not our t pical ethnic or ectarian faction. It fighter

are lo al to an impri oned guerrilla leader who wa once a communi t
ut now e pou e the ame kind of ecular, femini t, anarcho-
li ertariani m a Noam Chom k or the activi t of Occup Wall
treet. The Kurd are implementing the e ideal in Rojava, and that
ha attracted a ragtag legion of lefti t international , like elden, who
have come from nearl ever continent to help the YPG eat I I and
e ta li h an anarchi t collective amid the ru le of the war – a
" tatele democrac " equall oppo ed to I lamic fundamentali m and
capitali t modernit . The call it the Rojava Revolution, and the want
ou.
Foreigner intere ted in joining the YPG receive in truction

encr pted e-mail to fl to ula mani ah, Iraq, a cit controlled a
ociali t oppo ition part mpathetic to the Rojava Revolution.
Although volunteer are welcome, it' not ea to reach the YPG. To
the outh i I I . To the we t i the Free rian Arm , a di organized
coalition of warlord and mercenarie dominated Al Qaeda' Nu ra
Front. To the north i Turke , the archenem of Kurdi h
independence, who e con ervative, I lami t government i om ing
the YPG. To the ea t i the Kurdi tan Regional Government of Iraq –
for ear , it militar force, the Pe hmerga, permitted volunteer to
cro into ria. ut la t ear, under pre ure from Turke , the KRG
clo ed the onl ridge over the Tigri , completing the total lockade
on Rojava.
M a ignment wa to get in ide Rojava and report on the We tern

lefti t taking part in the fight. From ula mani ah, I traveled to
Kirkuk, Iraq, where I met with a Pe hmerga general who ordered four
of hi men to muggle me acro the lockade di gui ed a a fellow
fighter. We made it through a erie of regional checkpoint and
arrived at a hard cra le guerrilla camp in the foothill of Mount
injar, a for idden zone controlled the Kurdi tan Worker' Part , or
PKK. I pent a cold night huddled in a grim kitchen, efogged with
e e-watering quantitie of cigarette moke, while oung PKK militant
lectured me on the cri i of late capitali m and the American media'
exual exploitation of women.
Of all the armed faction in the region, the PKK i the mo t crucial to
under tanding the Rojava Revolution. eginning in 1978, the PKK
waged a communi t in urgenc again t the government of Turke , and
wa de ignated a terrori t group the U. . in 1997. Two ear later,
Turki h ecurit force captured the part ' founder, A dullah Öcalan.
entenced to life on an i land pri on, Öcalan underwent a political
conver ion. He gave up Marx and Lenin and tarted reading a out
anarchi m, femini m and ecolog , e peciall the work of Murra
ookchin, a li ertarian ociali t who u ed to ru houlder with ernie
ander in Vermont.
In 2011, Öcalan wrote a pamphlet called "Democratic Confederali m,"

which outline a ort of Athenian- t le direct democrac a ed on
voluntar participation in neigh orhood council , placing a pecial
empha i on the equalit of women. The 47-page lueprint for a
ociet without a formal government might never have mattered had
the regime of a har al-A ad not pulled it force from northern ria
in 2012, allowing local Kurdi h militia – allied with the PKK and
devoted to Öcalan – to take over. The rian Kurd , under the
protection of the YPG, declared Rojava' autonom and adopted a
con titution a ed on Öcalan' "Democratic Confederali m." For the

fir t time ince the pani h Civil War, anarchi t controlled a nation-
ize territor , and Rojava oon ecame a cele rated cau e of the
international left.
From Mount injar, I rode toward the Raqqa front in a minivan full of
fighter , including a pair of Yazidi girl , 16 and 18 ear old, oth in
camouflage uniform , one with an e e patch, the other cradling a
prained arm. In Augu t 2014, I I ma acred thou and of Yazidi
Kurd in the injar di trict of Iraq and dragged the women to the lave
market at Raqqa. The urvivor retreated to the top of Mount injar,
where the were held under iege until Pre ident O ama ordered the
fir t American air trike again t I I . That allowed the Yazidi to
e cape into Rojava. When I a ked the pair in the van a out their
injurie , the looked at me like I wa tupid. "Dae h," the older one
aid, u ing the Ara ic acron m for I I .
We arrived at a YPG a e on a hilltop ju t acro the order in ria.

The militiamen were gathered around campfire , and it eemed no one
wa in command. True to it anarchi t ideolog , the YPG i loo el
organized, without rank ; the univer al gender-neutral honorific i
hevalê, or friend. It elect it leader directl , and even a general mu t
wa h hi own clothe and take hi turn cooking. It ha an all-female
fighting rigade, the Women' Protection Unit , or YPJ, and command
po ition are jointl occupied a man from the YPG and a woman
from the YPJ. It troop are lightl armed and go into attle without
od armor or helmet or even oot , ju t neaker and Kala hnikov ,
wearing the lack flower head carve t pical of Rojava, which the
men took up wearing in olidarit with the women.
De pite it radical ideolog and connection with the anned PKK, the
YPG ha forged an effective alliance with the U. . militar (though the
Trump admini tration ha ignaled a willingne to di olve it). A of

now, there are more than 500 American commando em edded with
the YPG, advi ing the Kurd on tactic , calling in air trike and
di arming explo ive . On Novem er 24th, the da I arrived in ria, a
Nav om -di po al technician wa killed in a town called A n I a, a
place I knew name. It wa a out 150 mile from injar, nearl to
Raqqa. I wa headed there to meet up with elden.
All volunteer arriving in Rojava attend a month-long training

cour e at a place called the Academ , an oil facilit with four concrete
uilding , running water, intermittent electricit , a laundr line and a
potato patch. I met a dozen recruit when I vi ited, mo tl German
and Italian , ut al o two American , an ngli hman, a Finn, a pani h
a que and a Ti etan citizen of Hong Kong. In the arrack , the lept
five to a room on floor mat , their ruck ack and rifle tacked in the
corner . At dawn the went for a run in uniform, carr ing
Kala hnikov . The re t of the da , recruit attended cla e in weapon
training, anarcho-femini t ideolog and rudimentar Kurmanji.
Tho e alread trained, man of whom had alread fought, at around

oaking up the few hour of winter un hine, with little to do ut
moke cigarette and drink tea. One of the e wa Karim France chi, a
earded 27- ear-old Italian who wa among the fir t lefti t in Rojava.
In eptem er 2014, I I controlled mo t of the order with Turke .
Onl the cit of Ko ani held out, and I I ent it mo t hardened
foreign fighter to take it. The YPG' heroic defen e rought fame in
the international pre . In Octo er 2014, France chi and a cohort of
Italian communi t met with Ko ani official in exile with the idea of
volunteering in ome kind of medical capacit . "The were o
de perate," France chi recalled. "The didn't give a hit a out
medicine. The wanted fighter . I couldn't a no."
Fřǻňčěșčħį (țħįřđ fřǿm ŀěfț) ħǻș řěčřųįțěđ ǻ ģřǿųp ǿf Ẅěșțěřň ŀěfțįșțș țǿ jǿįň țħě Řǿjǻvǻ Řěvǿŀųțįǿň.
Čǿųřțěșỳ ǿf Ķǻřįm Fřǻňčħěșčħį
France chi wa vague a out hi ackground, ut wore a Mao pin,

owned a fortune in itcoin and poke even language , including
Ara ic and Kurmanji. With no militar experience, he wa ent to the
front line, where Kurdi h defender were outnum ered perhap five to
one. "I felt cared a hell," he aid. "I knew there were Chechen
terrori t , craz fighter from I I . At night, we heard them peaking
on the radio, more in Ru ian than in Ara ic." For the next three
month , he never lept more than two hour at a tretch. "I wa luck ,"
he aid. "I urvived long enough to learn how to fight." I I made the
tactical error of pulverizing the cit to ruin , which forced it fighter
out of their tolen tank to move on foot. "That' when the fight got
real," France chi aid.
More foreigner arrived, all lefti t , and the formed a niper unit.
"Thi wa the fir t internationali t team," France chi aid, howing me
a photo of him elf in Ko ani along ide a pani h anarchi t, a riti h
Kurd and Keith roomfield, the fir t American known to have died in
the rank of the YPG. "A lot of comrade were mart red during that
time," France chi aid. "There wa a lot of violence. ut elieve me,
there wa o much warmth. The conver ation, the intimac that ou
get knowing that ou're fighting for omething and that ou're in the
right. There were no rank . You could go to our general, lap him
ehind hi head and a k him for a cigarette. It wa amazing. I had the
time of m life, even though I lo t m e t friend there."
France chi wa ack in ria for the Raqqa operation. It would e hi

third tour in a man ear , ut he wa di appointed in the
international turnout. During the pani h Civil War, omething like
60,000 foreigner fought for the anarchi t and communi t again t
the fa ci t . In the rian Civil War, France chi aid, "the We tern
volunteer are a icall a joke, while I I ha ten of thou and from
the Middle a t, thou and from urope. o what doe that a a out
u ?"
The un wa etting ehind the pump jack . We drifted over to the

me hall, a partan dining room hung with po ter of foreign mart r
and portrait of Öcalan, who look like a friendl ver ion of addam
Hu ein. In one corner wa a helf of ociali t literature. A trio of
Italian were in the kitchen, houting and randi hing knive over
teaming pot and pan . The re t of the volunteer were eated at the
ta le, tearing off piece of flat read to gra olive and lice of tomato
from communal platter . The conver ation wa raucou , and a de ate
oiled over on the u ject of toilet paper – pecificall , the a ence
thereof in the Middle a t, where pot of water are u ed in tead.
" ome people here," France chi confided in a low tone, " till have thi
ourgeoi thing for wet wipe ."
" ourgeoi ?" interjected a jocular Italian with a knife car acro one
cheek. "I ourgeoi , clean our a ?" He rai ed a hand. "I don't want a
revolution."
Thi wa Dil oz (a Kurdi h war moniker; man lefti t refu ed to give

their real name ecau e of law again t taking part in foreign
conflict ). He wa 29 ear old. Occupation: thief. He grew up in a
quat hou e out ide Rome and, de pite never fini hing chool and
having limited ngli h, could hold forth on Gram ci' theor of
cultural hegemon : "The dominant cla tran mit hi elief , hi
value , to the proletarian cla ," he aid, u tl wiping two cigarette
from m pack. "The poore t per on , now the argue like a capitali t,
the ame per on that oppre him, that end hi mother to the
factor ."
With hi car and jailhou e

tattoo , Dil oz tood out
among the other volunteer ,
mo t of whom were middle-
cla and educated, like
Zerdeşt (al o a war moniker), a
lue-e ed o of 20 who e
father i a doctor in avaria.
ack home, Zerdeşt hung out
with a crowd of " o o " –
Żěřđěșț, 20, ħųňģ ǿųț ẅįțħ ěŀįțě ŀįběřǻŀș įň Ģěřmǻňỳ
ourgeoi ohemian , rich
ųňțįŀ ħě đěčįđěđ țǿ "șțǿp bųŀŀșħįțțįňģ." Șěțħ Ħǻřp
hip ter , profe ional-cla
li eral – who talked up the
Rojava Revolution ut never did an thing to upport it. One da he
told him elf, "OK, now ou have to top ull hitting."
The platter of alt noodle and m teriou canned meat were

cleared, ut no one wa in a hurr to e excu ed. In the a ence of
eer or wine, the inevita le tea wa erved, the 10th of the da , and
illow of to acco moke churned a ove the ta le.
I turned to a rain -looking 31- ear-old who e Kurdi h alia wa Agit.

" efore coming here, I had a ver good management jo ," he aid with
a German li p. "I tried to have a normal life ecau e m famil and m
girlfriend expected that for me, a capitali t life, ut I hate that.
peciall when I ee that mo t of the people in the world are poor,
and our wealth can onl exi t ecau e the are poor."
Like France chi, he had come ack to Rojava for the Raqqa operation.
Hi fir t tour had coincided with an influx of a different cla of
volunteer : riti h and American veteran of Iraq and Afghani tan,
man of them evangelical Chri tian , who came to kill I I and were
ignorant of the Kurd ' revolutionar politic . The ickered among
them elve and cau ed pro lem for the Kurd ; a few of them did
horri le thing . Three eparate time I wa told of a riti h veteran
known onl a Tim, a crack hot, and all account a cheerful gu ,
who enjo ed ta ting the lood of the lain and wa once een gnawing
on a evered foot.
"Thi whole thing i a magnet for idiot , p chopath , ociopath , plain

a hole ," Agit aid. The e da , thing are more organized. There i a
German operative at the afehou e in ula mani ah who vet
volunteer a the arrive, weeding out the lunatic and electing for
lefti t , who tend to get along etter and keep a lower profile.
The onl U. . militar veteran at the Academ wa a oung Chicagoan

with cuadorian root who went the alia Alan. He had erved in
the Marine Corp ut wa never deplo ed to Iraq or Afghani tan, o
when he got out of the ervice he made hi wa to Rojava. On one
mi ion to li erate a village, he wa hot in the arm and hand, he told
me. The Kurd gave him an inappropriatel low do e of ketamine and
he la on the attlefield con ciou and tripping all . "We re pect a

gu like Alan," France chi aid.
A for the pacifi t li eral ack home in urope and America, "The 're
not trul committed to an thing," France chi aid, pulling out hi
phone to read a Murra ookchin quote. "'Toda we are turning
inward: We are looking for per onal definition, per onal improvement,
per onal achievement, per onal enlightenment.' Thi i the left toda
in the world. ven tho e here, man anarchi t , the come here and
the want to e amazed and live the Kurdi h wa . You're not here on
a trip, man. It' not our per onal vo age. There i a war. There i a
revolution. And the need fighter ."
Ķųřđįșħ Pěǿpŀě'ș Přǿțěčțįǿň Ųňįțș (ỲPĢ) fįģħțěřș șțǻňđ ẅįțħ țħěįř ẅěǻpǿňș įň Țěŀ Ħǻmįș įň Ħǻșǻķǻ
čǿųňțřỳșįđě Mǻřčħ 1șț, 2015. Řǿđį Șǻįđ/Řěųțěřș
Hitching ride around Rojava, I wa appalled the environmental

degradation. The mo t educated people throw their gar age directl
out the window, and flattened tra h accumulate like leaf litter in the
fore t. The don't have a proper oil refiner , o cau tic lack exhau t
waft over the treet in vi i le trata. The onl animal are
dreadlocked ovid grazing knee-deep in tra h, wretched chicken
molting in cage , and tra dog , which I knew from man torie were
not unaccu tomed to the ta te of human fle h. And et, making our
wa through the foot traffic and eeping motorc cle of a azaar, the
idewalk crowded with crate of fruit and vegeta le , cellphone
hop , mone -changer and tractor mechanic , ever thing draped in a
cat' cradle of electrical wire , there i a peculiar charm, an aura of
intrigue that i heightened the jangl Kurdi h allad on ever
radio.
On Novem er 29th, I arrived in A n I a, a cro road town on the

de ert plain where the YPG coalition had it field headquarter for the
Raqqa offen ive. The people had all fled, and I found the unit I wa
looking for living in an a andoned hou e with a walled court ard. Out
tepped elden, who e vaguel comical countenance I recognized
from Twitter. He lit a cigarette and we at in pla tic chair on the
patio, where men and women from other unit were con tantl
arriving to hake hand , ki on oth cheek , hang out for a while, and
leave.
Growing up in an Franci co, elden never had mone : "I wa a

trou led teen. I went to five different high chool . I alwa worked
hitt jo . I gue I hould have gone to college – ut a lot of good
that did other gu ." He prote ted the Iraq War at age 13 ut later
forgot a out politic , and formed a and called Warkrime. "I wa a
punk for a long time, and that doe n't make ou into the e t dude," he
aid. Photo from thi period how him hanging around grung ar ,
moking, drinking, mooning the camera, holding a gun to hi head,
itting pa ed out on a couch. "Don't ever get addicted to drug ," he
aid. ventuall , he landed in jail. "I got picked up for po e ion," he
explained, "and I had a previou warrant for a ault after I got in thi
weird hoving match with a gu ." He wa relea ed and later urvived a
heroin overdo e ut ended up with a $2,000 ill for a five-minute
am ulance ride, a de t he could never pa off on minimum wage. "I

had to ecome a o er dude," he aid, "a traight-edge."
Politicall , though, reha further radicalized him. "All I did wa read

ook on far-left theor ," he aid. "I tarted to under tand
intellectuall what I alread under tood emotionall ." In late 2012, he
came acro an article on the declaration of Kurdi h autonom in
ria, which led him to Öcalan' manife to. Rojava ha never een
main tream new , ut over the pa t few ear the fringe of the
Internet have produced a tream of glamorou war imager : red tar
on lack flag , Molotov cocktail , ank - t le mural on ullet-
riddled wall , and ex female fighter po ing with Kala hnikov atop
pile of ru le. "Gra our laptop and come to Rojava now," aid an
earl ver ion of RojavaPlan.com, a recruiting we ite affiliated with
the hacker collective Anon mou . " urn down government
in titution , form a commune and grow ome potatoe etween the
ru le of the old world."
To elden, it looked like a po t-9/11 repri e of the pani h Civil War. In

place of the anarchi t and communi t of the Popular Front, ou had
the rian Kurd , with their nearl identical anti-capitali t ideolog ;
and in place of Franco, the Catholic fa ci t dictator, ou had I I , the
ultimate religiou con ervative . The motto of the pani h Repu lic
wa ¡No Pa arán! The motto of Rojava: No tate/No Caliphate.
After four ear of following from the ideline , elden tarted ending
e-mail to the admini trator of a log called YPG International,
a king how he could join. When the finall replied, "I kind of freaked
out," he aid. ut once he arrived in ula mani ah, ever thing wa
taken care of. "If ou're a white twent omething taking a ca from the
airport our elf," he aid, "the ca driver ju t know."
We got up to walk around the a e, a cinder lock uilding with metal

door flung open to the element , a dozen pair of hoe on the
thre hold and an equal num er of Kala hnikov l ing around. The
court ard wa a wreckage of tra h and de ri , including the hell of a
urned car. On the rooftop, three tattered YPG pennant fluttered in
the wind. Raqqa la 30 mile to the outh. From time to time, dull
concu ion thudded on the horizon.
"Did ou meet the little Jewi h nerd?" a ked elden, who i Jewi h
him elf; he u ed to have a tar of David tattooed on the knuckle of hi
middle finger, ut had a pade tattooed over it efore coming to the
Middle a t. He took me in ide to a carpeted room with leeping mat
and pillow lining the wall and introduced me to Luca Chapman, a
kinn American in Coke- ottle gla e warming hi hand on a tove
heater.
Chapman claim to remem er nothing that happened efore hi 16th

irthda . He hated high chool in Dahlonega, Georgia, a town of 6,000
people ju t outh of the Chattahoochee National Fore t. "I ju t wanted
to get the hell out," he aid. He attended American Univer it in
Wa hington, D.C., where he majored in Jewi h hi tor and immer ed
him elf in ociali t theor . "A long a I can remem er, I've een
intere ted in lefti m," he aid. He worked part-time for a tartup called
Po tmate , an U er-like compan of underemplo ed courier . "On one
of m la t deliverie I rought ome rich prick two Mac ook Pro ,"
Chapman aid. "He wa arefoot in hi underwear, and he literall
wrote in zero dollar and zero cent for a tip. How doe an one do
that?"
After da like that, Chapman would go home, fire up a owl and

pend the evening tud ing Kurmanji and crolling through
RojavaPlan.com. He left for ula mani ah in eptem er 2016 and
pent a leeple fir t night at a de ignated hotel, weat eeping from

ever pore, hi mind racing. "What the hell am I doing here?" he
thought. Noon the next da he wa taken to a different room, where at
lea t there wa another American: elden. That afternoon the were
driven to a camp in the Zagro Mountain , and that ame night the
hiked acro the order, a ix-hour march without water, uffering
under heav pack , tripping over rock and ram le . The un had not
et ri en when Chapman fir t et foot in ria. It wa the morning of
hi 21 t irthda .
A tall, cruff Dani h gu et down hi Kala hnikov and joined u ,

introducing him elf a Tomm Mørck. He wa in hi thirtie and had
WHY? tattooed acro the four knuckle of one hand. He grew up in an
un ta le home and pent hi twentie on the move, living in different
countrie , attending variou univer itie , working unrelated jo . "I
never could find an thing that could tick," he aid. "Not people, not
occupation , not place ." He wa diagno ed with ipolar di order and
uffered from heav depre ion until the da he realized that there wa
nothing wrong with hi mind; it wa the modern world that wa ick.
He gave up on the tem, went on unemplo ment enefit and
tarted working 50 hour a week for a Dani h green part . Around that
time, ria came to Denmark in the form of thou and of refugee .
"The were treated like animal ," Mørck aid. Within a ear of
di covering RojavaPlan.com, he wa a oard a flight to ula mani ah.
Měmběřș ǿf Ķųřđįșħ Pěǿpŀě Đěfěňčě Ųňįțș (ỲPĢ) fŀǻșħ vįčțǿřỳ șįģň ǻfțěř čǿmįňģ fřǿm Șỳřįǻň țǿẅň ǿf ǻŀ-
Řǻqqǻ, įň Țěŀ Ǻbỳǻđ, Șỳřįǻ, Jųňě 23řđ, 2015. Șěđǻț Șųňǻ/Řěđųx
At the Academ , Mørck met elden and Chapman, and after training,
all three of them were a igned to a heav -weapon unit at A n I a.
Ju t two da later, the YPG coalition announced the tart of the
Raqqa offen ive. "We were urpri ed," Mørck aid. The had expected
to pend month doing guard dut , heltered from real danger.
In tead, Mørck aid, "we fired the fir t hot of the Raqqa operation."
The three of them were put to manning machine gun , elden riding
in ide the make hift tank, Chapman and Mørck traddling the ed of
Hilux gun truck . I I didn't put up much of a fight. "Once the aw
we were coming, the ju t ran," Mørck aid. The could onl ee the
enem – "dude walking around with huge eard ," Chapman aid –
through inocular . American commando , nake-eating J OC t pe
without in ignia, were milling around with the Kurd , and Mørck aid
he talked to uniformed American marine engaged in actual com at,
lo ing mortar at I I . " ut onl until 6 o'clock," Mørck aid,
" ecau e then the Kurd want to leep, and mortar are reall loud."
A the YPG force entered Tal aman, the found a warehou e with a
car- om a em l line and a lood- tained man cage. The picked
through ru le mixed with kull and pine , and tripped expen ive
gear off I I carca e . "Technicall , I did a war crime, ecau e I peed
on a dead per on," elden aid. "I didn't mean to." There were oo
trap ever where. Chapman wa tanding out ide a hou e when the
window exploded with dirt and moke. A Kurd tum led out
coughing, coated in du t, and immediatel lit up a cigarette. Two more
emerged carr ing a fourth, who e foot had een lown off a land
mine hidden in an up tair edroom. Novem er 20th, Tal aman
wa completel ecured.
I vi ited Tal aman 10 da after that, a drizzl morning in the little

village of collap ed one- tor hou e and wrecked uilding ri tling
with twi ted re ar. ven the tree were hot up, horn of upper
ranche , ark hredded. The actual front wa a mall metal ridge
over an irrigation canal, outh of town. A dirt road vani hed into the
fog on the other ide, where the puriou caliphate la . A throng of
refugee wa gathered at the foot of the ridge, Ara familie with
truckload of hou ehold good , flock of odden heep and goat ,
cattle and camel , motorc cle and tractor and car . The people were
wrapped in lanket and cloak , wreathed in the team and moke of
campfire . There were no fortification , onl a rang quad of fierce-
looking Kurd tanding guard. Women in lack urqa were
e eeching them to let their familie acro .
A convo of Land Crui er and gun truck pulled up, and a group of
earded riti h commando got out and hook hand with the Kurd .
One of them took out hi phone and captured a photo of the refugee ,
provoking one of the women in lack to throw up her hand and wail
in mi er .
"What' he a ing?" the riti h commando a ked hi tran lator.
" he a , 'You take our picture, ut ou don't let u cro .'"
Gar led excitement came over the YPG radio . A Kurd with long hair
hoi ted a elt-fed machine gun and fired on the I I ide of the road.
Orange tracer floated forward into the mi t, ut I couldn't ee what
he wa hooting at. The refugee arel reacted. I I had retreated ut
continued to di patch car om , and lone infiltrator could penetrate
far ehind Kurdi h line . M local colleague aid the commander
wanted u to leave and u hered me into hi Daewoo. We drove 15 mile
over cratered road ack to A n I a, where the ulk of the YPG force,
including elden and Chapman and Mørck, had pulled ack to await
the next pha e of the offen ive.
While fighting I I along a 300-mile front, the YPG i al o attling the

Turki h Arm on it we tern flank, e peciall around Man ij, the third-
large t cit in Rojava. The da I met up with elden, a Turki h air trike
we t of Man ij killed a 27- ear-old American named Michael I rael, an
anarchi t from Lodi, California, who had recentl po ted a photo of
him elf on Face ook wearing a YPG uniform and tomping on a
Confederate flag. At the time, he wa the 20th foreign volunteer to die
and the fifth American, ut the fir t to e killed Turke , a NATO
all of the United tate .
In the pa t, Turki h official have vowed not to di tingui h etween

foreigner and Kurd , whom the con ider terrori t . I a ked the
Department of tate if it had an thing to a a out Turke killing an
American citizen erving in an American- acked militia along ide
American militar per onnel. A poke woman would not go on record
other than to point to the Department of tate' March 2016 travel
warning, which aid that private citizen who fight in ria could face
criminal charge . I a ked the Department of Ju tice if it would
pro ecute American YPG volunteer . A poke man aid it would not
comment on h pothetical ca e . ut "regardle of it legalit ," he
added, joining the YPG "i a ad idea and we trongl di courage it."
elden, Chapman and Mørck were more worried a out urviving

Raqqa than an potential criminal lia ilit . Raqqa i 20 time larger
than Tal aman, with a population in the hundred of thou and . I I
ha had four ear to uild and dig, and the ground i likel riddled
with tunnel , the uilding oo -trapped to the la t. "Mine ," elden
aid. "Mine ever where."
There i al o a que tion of

manpower: The YPG claim
50,000 fighter , ut armed
force are prone to inflate their
num er , and the front line
eemed oddl depopulated,
even at A n I a. "There' , like,
40 of u ," elden joked. Wa it
po i le the Kurd were till a
de perate for a le odie a
the 'd een when France chi
arrived in Ko ani? I pu hed
elden for a eriou num er. "A Čħǻpmǻň, ǻň Ǻměřįčǻň, ǻřřįvěđ įň Șỳřįǻ ǿň ħįș 21șț
bįřțħđǻỳ. Șěțħ Ħǻřp
thou and people on thi front
i a generou e timate," elden aid. The other nodded. No one
know how man I I ha ; man have died in air trike ut thou and
remain, po i l ten of thou and , concentrated in Raqqa.
"We're going to die there," Chapman aid, cracking open a unflower

eed. It wa late at night thi time. The tea had gone cold. The
Kurd had rolled up in lanket again t the wall, though the televi ion
in the corner wa till flickering. I looked at elden, who laughed and

aid, "We're definitel going to die."
It' impo i le to a whether the Rojava Revolution ha ucceeded

a a model of civil ociet ecau e the countr i o thoroughl
mo ilized for war. There are oldier and police ever where, fire
urning in the treet . The ullet-riddled uilding are draft and cold,
with onl poradic electricit . The Kurd ' chief plea ure, though, a ide
from tea and to acco, eem to e one another' compan . Their food
i monotonou – read, tomatoe , ean , ometime mutton – ut
ever meal i eaten communall , with econd portion , and the place
of honor, forced on an gue t pre ent. I wa there two week and
arel pent an mone . I hared in whatever people were eating and
lept wherever the lept. The are de perate for import , et if I ever
o much a took a dollar ill from m wallet the Kurd would ward it
off like a tali man of evil. I aw no rich people, no corporation , no
ank , no ig hou e , no fanc car , no one homele or egging or
tarving. The people were of one cla and impro a l cheerful. The
were united in upport of the YPG and eemed to wor hip Öcalan,
who e portrait hung in ever uilding.
Not long after leaving ria, I got a me age from Mørck. elden and
Chapman had een tran ferred to another unit a little down the line.
On Decem er 13th, around two in the morning, Mørck awoke to the
ound of hooting. He knew the entrie enjo ed popping off round
a a practical joke, ut thi ounded like it wa ju t out ide. He
gra ed hi rifle and pu hed open the door to the fo er, which reeked
of gun moke. When he peered into the court ard, a Kurd tanding in
the adjacent doorwa hi ed at him, waving him ack: I I wa in ide
the compound.
There wa another pate of gunfire and Mørck acked awa from the
door with hi rifle rai ed. He wa crouched again t the wall with a
roken window at hi ack. hould he cover the window or the door ?
ither wa , he would e expo ed. Hi dilemma wa olved an
explo ion, an all-engulfing concu ion that hook the concrete wall
like a car cra hing into it. ediment rained down and a high-pitched
tone pierced the illow of dirt moke.
It wa a uicide om er. od part were flung over a 50- ard radiu ,

crap of gore pattered all over the court ard. On the exterior wall,
exactl oppo ite where Mørck had een crouching, a violent tar ur t
of lood and car on wa painted. The ceramic tile on the patio were
hattered, a if a cannon all had fallen there. ut the wall had held,
thwarting the om er and aving Mørck' life.
Țħě șčěňě ǿf ǻ șųįčįđě bǿmb ǻț țħě ħǿųșě ẅħěřě Běŀđěň, Čħǻpmǻň ǻňđ Møřčķ șțǻỳěđ. Čǿųřțěșỳ ǿf
MØŘČĶ
Throughout the winter, foreign volunteer have een d ing at an

alarming rate: an ngli hman and a Canadian in Decem er; and in
Januar , at lea t two American , including Paolo Todd, a 33- ear-old
from Lo Angele I'd met at the Academ . When I la t poke to elden
and Chapman, the complained of oredom, ut Mørck wa till in the

thick of it; he ent an e-mail de cri ing a firefight with I I in which
half the men of hi unit were wounded, two of them mortall . "I wa
urpri ed m reaction," he wrote, "watching a per on I knew die and
hooting at another human eing, with the intent to kill, not out of
anger or de peration, ut out of nece it . I've een wondering
whether or not I reall had it in me. Now I know for certain that I do."
I al o got an e-mail from France chi, who had formed a tand-alone

unit of foreign lefti t modeled on the International rigade of the
pani h Civil War. It' called the Antifa ci t International Ta ur, and
it central mi ion i to fight in Raqqa, a attle that he a will la t
through 2017 and e "a hundred time wor e than Ko ani and Man ij
put together." More volunteer are needed, France chi a , and all of
them will e trained YPG. Recruit mu t meet onl one
prerequi ite: "If the want to join u , the mu t have an ideal that i
not ju t killing or de tro ing. The can e anarchi t , ociali t ,
lefti t , whatever. ut the mu t feel like thi revolution i their
revolution. ecau e the e are ideal that people are d ing for."
Čǿmměňțș
Țǿpįčș: İȘİȘ Ŀǿňģ Řěǻđș
Đǿň’ț Mįșș ǻ Șțǿřỳ

Șįģň ųp fǿř ǿųř ňěẅșŀěțțěř țǿ řěčěįvě břěǻķįňģ ňěẅș đįřěčțŀỳ įň ỳǿųř įňbǿx.
Ěňțěř ỳǿųř ěmǻįŀ ǻđđřěșș Șįģň Ųp
Ħǿẅ ẅě ųșě ỳǿųř ěmǻįŀ ǻđđřěșș

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24/03/2017 American Anarchists Join YPG in Syria Fighting ISIS, Islamic State - Rolling Stone

Țħě Ǻňǻřčħįșțș vș. țħě İșŀǻmįč Șțǻțě

Břǻčě Běŀđěň běfǿřě ǻ bǻțțŀě įň Șỳřįǻ įň Ňǿvěmběř. Čǿųřțěșỳ ǿf Břǻčě Běŀđěň

Ǿň țħě fřǿňț ŀįňěș ǿf Șỳřįǻ ẅįțħ țħě ỳǿųňģ

On the morning of hi fir t attle, race elden wa underdre ed for

metal and poured concrete. elden took a elfie in ide it ru t ca in

The re t of the militia piled into an a ortment of minivan , gar age

It wa Novem er 6th, 2016. The Kurdi h militia known a the YPG – a

follower under the handle Pi PigGranddad, puzzling the Internet

elden had no militar experience efore joining the YPG. He lived in

I I for five ear . American a well a French warplane have een

ut the YPG i not our t pical ethnic or ectarian faction. It fighter

Foreigner intere ted in joining the YPG receive in truction

M a ignment wa to get in ide Rojava and report on the We tern

In 2011, Öcalan wrote a pamphlet called "Democratic Confederali m,"

con titution a ed on Öcalan' "Democratic Confederali m." For the

We arrived at a YPG a e on a hilltop ju t acro the order in ria.

Trump admini tration ha ignaled a willingne to di olve it). A of

All volunteer arriving in Rojava attend a month-long training

Tho e alread trained, man of whom had alread fought, at around

France chi wa vague a out hi ackground, ut wore a Mao pin,

France chi wa ack in ria for the Raqqa operation. It would e hi

The un wa etting ehind the pump jack . We drifted over to the

Thi wa Dil oz (a Kurdi h war moniker; man lefti t refu ed to give

With hi car and jailhou e

The platter of alt noodle and m teriou canned meat were

I turned to a rain -looking 31- ear-old who e Kurdi h alia wa Agit.

"Thi whole thing i a magnet for idiot , p chopath , ociopath , plain

The onl U. . militar veteran at the Academ wa a oung Chicagoan

he la on the attlefield con ciou and tripping all . "We re pect a

Hitching ride around Rojava, I wa appalled the environmental

On Novem er 29th, I arrived in A n I a, a cro road town on the

Growing up in an Franci co, elden never had mone : "I wa a

am ulance ride, a de t he could never pa off on minimum wage. "I

Politicall , though, reha further radicalized him. "All I did wa read

To elden, it looked like a po t-9/11 repri e of the pani h Civil War. In

We got up to walk around the a e, a cinder lock uilding with metal

Chapman claim to remem er nothing that happened efore hi 16th

After da like that, Chapman would go home, fire up a owl and

pent a leeple fir t night at a de ignated hotel, weat eeping from

A tall, cruff Dani h gu et down hi Kala hnikov and joined u ,

I vi ited Tal aman 10 da after that, a drizzl morning in the little

"What' he a ing?" the riti h commando a ked hi tran lator.

" he a , 'You take our picture, ut ou don't let u cro .'"

While fighting I I along a 300-mile front, the YPG i al o attling the

In the pa t, Turki h official have vowed not to di tingui h etween

elden, Chapman and Mørck were more worried a out urviving

There i al o a que tion of

"We're going to die there," Chapman aid, cracking open a unflower

in the corner wa till flickering. I looked at elden, who laughed and

It' impo i le to a whether the Rojava Revolution ha ucceeded

It wa a uicide om er. od part were flung over a 50- ard radiu ,

Throughout the winter, foreign volunteer have een d ing at an

and Chapman, the complained of oredom, ut Mørck wa till in the

I al o got an e-mail from France chi, who had formed a tand-alone

Țǿpįčș: İȘİȘ Ŀǿňģ Řěǻđș

Đǿň’ț Mįșș ǻ Șțǿřỳ

Ěňțěř ỳǿųř ěmǻįŀ ǻđđřěșș Șįģň Ųp