Ryan O'Leary's parents and girlfriend have told him what he's doing is crazy. So have the FBI and the U.S. State Department.
He understands their point.
But the Iowa soldier returned to Iraq last month, headed to war for the third time. The first two times, he served with the Iowa National Guard, with authority from the U.S. Army. This time, he's volunteering on his own to help train the Kurdish army of northern Iraq to battle the ferocious terrorist group known as ISIS.
"ISIS isn't just a fight for them, it's a fight for all of us," he said. "We need to help them out, and we're not doing it. … The only thing I'm getting out of it is knowing that I'm helping make change in a country that deserves it and for a people that deserve it."
O'Leary, 28, is a National Guard corporal who served in Iraq in 2007-08 and in Afghanistan in 2010-11. In an interview via Skype this week, he explained plans to help train members of the Peshmerga, which is the Kurdish army.
The FBI and the State Department have said what he's doing is legal, but they've urged him to consider the danger. They worry he could be kidnapped, used as a hostage or killed. O'Leary said he feels relatively safe amid his new Kurdish comrades.
Kurdistan is a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, whose people sided with Americans in the war that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. The region was relatively stable and prosperous until ISIS began a rampage there last year.
ISIS's brutality has included beheading captives in Iraq and neighboring Syria. He knows his quest could end in death.
"If it happens, at least I died doing something I believed in," he said in an interview last month at his West Des Moines apartment, two days before he left. "It's better than sitting here on the couch watching news feeds of Christians getting killed and Muslims getting killed for no reason."
O'Leary is serving with a force that has proven more effective than the official Iraqi Army, which the U.S. government spent billions of dollars to train and arm. The Iraqi Army abandoned its weapons and fled last month when ISIS fighters stormed the city of Ramadi, which is 250 miles south of where O'Leary landed. The Peshmerga has been praised for standing its ground against the extremists in its region of the country.
Kurdish officials have discouraged foreign fighters from joining the Peshmerga, but some veterans of western forces reportedly have done so anyway. O'Leary said he's seen a few dozen of them, mostly Americans and Brits. Peshmerga units are using the foreigners mainly as instructors, not as direct combat soldiers, he said.
"They're really not wanting to put westerners in the danger zones," he said this week. "I didn't come over here just to kill people. I mainly came over to ensure the Peshmerga were getting the proper training."
He said he's been helping provide some medical services among war refugees, while awaiting security clearance to begin working with recruits on rifle marksmanship, first aid and other basic skills. He said he expects that clearance to come any day. His only compensation has been a cot, food, tea and cigarettes, he said.
FBI has concerns
O'Leary said he made contact with the Peshmerga a few months ago through a Kurdish friend who served as a translator for the Iowa National Guard in Iraq. The former translator introduced him via Facebook with a British veteran who was helping train a Kurdish unit, he said. The British veteran helped him figure out how to link up with the Kurdish army in a town about 200 miles northeast of Baghdad.
American warplanes have dropped bombs on ISIS, but the U.S. has not committed ground forces. O'Leary said he couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer. The Kurds have been stalwart U.S. allies over the decades, but Americans have been inconsistent friends, he said.
After thinking it over for a couple of months, he paid $1,061 for a one-way ticket to Iraq and started packing his duffel bags.
O'Leary said this week that he faced no serious hurdles in traveling to Iraq last month. He said he told the truth when an airport security agent in Chicago asked him about his plans. Their exchange was friendly and lasted just a few minutes, he recalled. The agent, "pretty much said, 'Stay safe and have a good flight.' "
His father expressed mixed feelings about O'Leary's trip. "We support him in what he wants to do," the elder O'Leary said by phone from his home in rural Iowa. "We made it very clear that we really don't agree with him doing this. But we realize the decision is his, and he's chosen to do it."
O'Leary's family has been communicating with him mainly via Facebook. "I'm not sure exactly what he's up to. He says it's hot, dirty and loud there," his father said. "Obviously, there's almost anywhere else in the world we'd rather have him go to. But he just kind of got it in his head that's what he wanted to do."
The Register is not identifying O'Leary's family or specifying where he grew up because of concerns raised by federal officials. The FBI is aware of O'Leary's travels, and an agent told the Register that authorities don't want to see his family endangered by ISIS sympathizers in the U.S.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...soldier-iraq-guard-isis-ryan-oleary/28767975/
FBI agent Brian Endrizal said it's not illegal for Americans to travel to Iraq and help the Kurds. But it's also not advisable for people to do what O'Leary apparently is doing, he said. "They could be captured. They could be killed. They could be used as hostages," he said.
Endrizal said his agency would like O'Leary to contact the American embassy and consider returning to the United States. "Our biggest concern is that he comes home safe and soon — but who knows when that's going to be?" the agent said.
He understands their point.
But the Iowa soldier returned to Iraq last month, headed to war for the third time. The first two times, he served with the Iowa National Guard, with authority from the U.S. Army. This time, he's volunteering on his own to help train the Kurdish army of northern Iraq to battle the ferocious terrorist group known as ISIS.
"ISIS isn't just a fight for them, it's a fight for all of us," he said. "We need to help them out, and we're not doing it. … The only thing I'm getting out of it is knowing that I'm helping make change in a country that deserves it and for a people that deserve it."
O'Leary, 28, is a National Guard corporal who served in Iraq in 2007-08 and in Afghanistan in 2010-11. In an interview via Skype this week, he explained plans to help train members of the Peshmerga, which is the Kurdish army.
The FBI and the State Department have said what he's doing is legal, but they've urged him to consider the danger. They worry he could be kidnapped, used as a hostage or killed. O'Leary said he feels relatively safe amid his new Kurdish comrades.
Kurdistan is a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, whose people sided with Americans in the war that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. The region was relatively stable and prosperous until ISIS began a rampage there last year.
ISIS's brutality has included beheading captives in Iraq and neighboring Syria. He knows his quest could end in death.
"If it happens, at least I died doing something I believed in," he said in an interview last month at his West Des Moines apartment, two days before he left. "It's better than sitting here on the couch watching news feeds of Christians getting killed and Muslims getting killed for no reason."
O'Leary is serving with a force that has proven more effective than the official Iraqi Army, which the U.S. government spent billions of dollars to train and arm. The Iraqi Army abandoned its weapons and fled last month when ISIS fighters stormed the city of Ramadi, which is 250 miles south of where O'Leary landed. The Peshmerga has been praised for standing its ground against the extremists in its region of the country.
Kurdish officials have discouraged foreign fighters from joining the Peshmerga, but some veterans of western forces reportedly have done so anyway. O'Leary said he's seen a few dozen of them, mostly Americans and Brits. Peshmerga units are using the foreigners mainly as instructors, not as direct combat soldiers, he said.
"They're really not wanting to put westerners in the danger zones," he said this week. "I didn't come over here just to kill people. I mainly came over to ensure the Peshmerga were getting the proper training."
He said he's been helping provide some medical services among war refugees, while awaiting security clearance to begin working with recruits on rifle marksmanship, first aid and other basic skills. He said he expects that clearance to come any day. His only compensation has been a cot, food, tea and cigarettes, he said.
FBI has concerns
O'Leary said he made contact with the Peshmerga a few months ago through a Kurdish friend who served as a translator for the Iowa National Guard in Iraq. The former translator introduced him via Facebook with a British veteran who was helping train a Kurdish unit, he said. The British veteran helped him figure out how to link up with the Kurdish army in a town about 200 miles northeast of Baghdad.
American warplanes have dropped bombs on ISIS, but the U.S. has not committed ground forces. O'Leary said he couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer. The Kurds have been stalwart U.S. allies over the decades, but Americans have been inconsistent friends, he said.
After thinking it over for a couple of months, he paid $1,061 for a one-way ticket to Iraq and started packing his duffel bags.
O'Leary said this week that he faced no serious hurdles in traveling to Iraq last month. He said he told the truth when an airport security agent in Chicago asked him about his plans. Their exchange was friendly and lasted just a few minutes, he recalled. The agent, "pretty much said, 'Stay safe and have a good flight.' "
His father expressed mixed feelings about O'Leary's trip. "We support him in what he wants to do," the elder O'Leary said by phone from his home in rural Iowa. "We made it very clear that we really don't agree with him doing this. But we realize the decision is his, and he's chosen to do it."
O'Leary's family has been communicating with him mainly via Facebook. "I'm not sure exactly what he's up to. He says it's hot, dirty and loud there," his father said. "Obviously, there's almost anywhere else in the world we'd rather have him go to. But he just kind of got it in his head that's what he wanted to do."
The Register is not identifying O'Leary's family or specifying where he grew up because of concerns raised by federal officials. The FBI is aware of O'Leary's travels, and an agent told the Register that authorities don't want to see his family endangered by ISIS sympathizers in the U.S.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...soldier-iraq-guard-isis-ryan-oleary/28767975/
FBI agent Brian Endrizal said it's not illegal for Americans to travel to Iraq and help the Kurds. But it's also not advisable for people to do what O'Leary apparently is doing, he said. "They could be captured. They could be killed. They could be used as hostages," he said.
Endrizal said his agency would like O'Leary to contact the American embassy and consider returning to the United States. "Our biggest concern is that he comes home safe and soon — but who knows when that's going to be?" the agent said.
