OPINION:
After receiving a sizeable inheritance from Rosie Kelly, his mother, retired American football coach Tom Kelly decided to do what he could to help the Kurdish Peshmerga, Christians and Yezidis in their battle against the Islamic State (ISIS). Kelly has spent more than $200,000 of his own money since 2015 to purchase hospital tents, medical supplies and Army-Navy surplus stocks and shipped them from Nashville to Peshmerga generals in the Iraqi provinces controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). He has provided eight field hospitals for battle fronts from Mt. Sinjar on the Syrian border, to the city of Kirkuk in north-central Iraq. Each unit has been fitted with beds, air conditioners, LED lighting, sinks, showers and portable generators.
“These are Rosie’s Ring around Mosul,” Kelly says. “They can triage both civilians wounded by terrorist attacks as well as Peshmerga soldiers.”
While these medical units were treating wounded soldiers, the Kurdish forces continued to wait for delivery of state-of-the art field hospitals that were held up by the central government in Baghdad. “The Kurds had requested that Washington force Baghdad to release at least two of these field hospitals to the Peshmerga,” Kelly told reporters in June.
But an independence referendum in the KRG in September led to a bloody clash between Iraqi Security Forces and Peshmerga in mid-October when the Iraqi army re-asserted control over the city of Kirkuk. Iraqi armored units and Iranian-controlled militia units also pushed into the disputed 800-mile band of territory that Kurdish forces had recovered from ISIS during the two years of war from 2015.
“We cannot turn our backs on the reliable Kurdish fighters who reversed the ISIS tide,” according to Kelly.
Iranian-backed Shia militia are using the Iraqi Army’s hundreds of Abrams tanks that Washington donated to Iraq, including the Kurds, to fight ISIS, and the Iranian proxy forces are in route to carving out their version of a Crescent Caliphate from Bahrain thru Teheran, Baghdad, Damascus, Aden and Beirut.
“The least we can do is balance the playing field by donating them anti-tank weapons,” he says. “The Kurdish Peshmerga, my heroes, deserve Javelin anti-tank missiles to counter attacks by Iranian-back Shia militia using U.S. tanks,” he said.
“Given half the chance, the Kurds will again lead US in defeating a sectarian scourge, this time from Iran.”
“I have made eight trips to Erbil, Iraq answering the request by Generals Zaim Ali, Serwan Barzani, Muhsin Rasheed Ali, and others for field hospitals that Baghdad received from the U.S. military, but refused to pass any on to the Kurds,” Kelly added.
“But just as we were standing one up near Kirkuk for a Peshmerga base, Iranian backed Shia Militia overran Kirkuk using U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks and Humvees. Shame on US!”
“The Kurds a few days later took out a few Humvees and tanks with antitank weapons. We are lobbying for Congress to release some of the money meant for the Kurds to include at least 20 US-made Javelin antitank weapons to help level the playing field,” Kelly said on a courtesy call to Rep. Joe Wilson, Republican from South Carolina, who is a member of the Kurdish Caucus on Capitol Hill.
Referencing former Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who once led the bold effort to pass on Stinger Missiles to the Afghans to help defeat the Soviets years ago, Kelly asked Rep. Joe Wilson, “Shouldn’t we do the same for the Kurds? Or have we abandoned them?”
Kelly has teamed with the Barzani Charity Foundation to stand up future mobile clinics in the area controlled by the KRG. “The mobile clinics will be used for both civilians and wounded peshmerga,” according to Delovan Barwari, the country representative of the foundation. “The mobile clinics will also be used for refugees, internally displaced people and emergency situations,” Barwari added.
“The Barzani Charity Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to people in need regardless of their ethnicity, religion, and political orientation in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and outside. It also strives to advocate tolerance, democracy, coexistence and equality in Iraqi Kurdistan and beyond,” Barwari told the Washington Times.
• • •
Call for Citizens to join the campaign to support the People of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
To make contributions of cash or medical supplies for mobile hospitals and humanitarian aid, contact the Barzani Charity Foundation:
Mr. Delovan Barwari, country representative, (delovan AT BCF.KRD)
Treasurer, Omar Barzani
9716 Windburn Dr.
Plano, Texas 75025
More information on the lobbying effort to focus Washington’s attention on preserving the Kurdish-U.S. alliance, contact Tom Kelly, (gridirondiplomat AT yahoo.com)
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