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Radio War Nerd EP #189 — Photographing Kurdistan's Struggle Against ISIS, w/ Joey Lawrence (Patreon)

Published:
2019-07-10 20:15:54
Edited:
2019-07-11 17:19:33
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

Guest: Joey L., photographer & filmmaker

Recorded: July 6, 2019

The War Nerd talks to photojournalist Joey Lawrence about his incredible stories & photos from his journeys to Iraqi Kurdistan & Rojava. Joey talks about his new book, "We Came From Fire"—a collection of his photos and reporting from the last 4 years documenting Kurdistan's struggle against ISIS. We also talk about certain western hacks misreporting the Syria war, including a certain Roy Gutman . . . 

At 1:50:00, Ames tells the story of an Alex Jones "black helicopters" conspiracy theorist reinvented as a leading "Russian disinformation" expert by Washington DC's best & brightest . . . 

Buy Joey L.'s book "We Came From Fire: Kurdistan's Armed Struggle Against ISIS". Check out his documentary "People of the Delta". Follow Joey L. on Twitter.

Interlude music by RWN sound god Brendon Anderegg. Buy his music at Thrill Jockey.

And don't forget the new audiobook by the War Nerd's alter-ego John Dolan: "Pleasant Hell", the comic memoir read by the author himself. Buy it here! 

Total time: 2:22:36

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here 

Files

Comments

Shfifty_five

Good interview, his suspicions about Barzani group were correct and then some, now that there's credible evidence of Peshmerga complicity and even participation in the Yazidi genocide. Particularly on the backend, preventing and massacring survivors returning.

Angus Crowe

Awesome, been following Joey since I heard him on the Popular Front podcast. Such a great photographer.

Jon Spiegler

Eric Garland, adderall enthusiast and grifter, not Eric Garner, murdered by the NYPD.

The January Storm

On man speaking of "Syria experts" shooting the shit about the PYD friend of the show Michael Weiss, in a now sadly deleted tweet, called them "a bunch of Maoists" , which as we all know is the mark of a true journalist.

Curli Linds G

Tremendous interview! Really glad to hear about the cultural changes the Kurdish militias have mad. God willing they can wash away some of the wahabist filth that has polluted the region for the last century or so.

Mark Ames

Gah! Fixed that, thanks. There are off the cuff mistakes you make when talking that are to be expected...and there are no-no brainfarts that, like Saddam's aggression, cannot stand, man.

JoR

Great interview. One thing that always get mentioned in these shows is the unprecedented collapse that the Iraqi army had in 2014 that allowed isis to rise. Unfortunately there's little info on the transformation the army had (or at least the militias that ended up fighting) in the coming years to not only push back isis, but actually retake the country (with American and peshmerga help). This show has discussed this more then other places, but it'd be nice to get a guest who understands that process: mainly how did the Iraqis go from their state in 2014 of near collapse, to 2016-17 where they were taking part in intense urban warfare in mosul? Obviously it'd probably be much harder to get an English-speaking guest who directly participated in the war on the Iraqi side, but maybe a prior guest like Elijah Magnier can come on again to discuss it?

JoR

Also now that I think about it, I think Magnier discusses this somewhat in the interview you had with him (from what I remember, the role of the clergy in Iraq were instrumental in influencing young men into enlisting into militias).

Eric Klein

I remember listening to the public radio show "The World" on the week the news was breaking in the U.S. that isis was sweeping across Iraq. They had a guest on the show, an English speaking Iraqi I think, that claimed that the way in which the Iraqi army offered no resistance to the isis fighters that they must have been bribed or that it was predetermined by the officers to stand down. It was a unique perspective to hear on NPR and a couple days later the regular host of "The World," Marco Werman was joined for some reason in the studio by John Hockenberry, who sounded to me like his job was to keep the reporting focus more in line with the New York Times type of POV.

zaabittimov

Cool interview! I had some playback issues about halfway through but fortunately it was resolved…. The title of his book (and the mention of Newroz) reminded me of an experience I had last year….I attended the 2018 Newroz celebrations at a Kurdish cafe here in Belgrade with some Kurdish and Balkan friends (close to where John had his bus station adventures a couple years ago). The place was decked out with a giant picture of Ocalan and YPG/J flags, and upon entering we were given a little flier in Serbian with some info about Newroz (which I kept). It starts off like this (my rough translation): “Light the fire of Newroz from Kurdistan to all peoples of the world! Newroz is a new day, a day in which brotherhood, solidarity and revolutionary society bloom. It is a day in which the exploited and oppressed light the fire of freedom! We wish to share our love for newroz, revolution, and solidarity with our dear friends (comrades) from Kurdistan to Serbia, to all the peoples of the Balkans” I found it interesting as it seemed to encapsulate the ideology modern Kurdish movement. That is, they’re taking something that they see as Kurdish (obviously Newroz is also celebrated by Shias, even in the Balkans, especially among Roma people and Sufis) and attempt give it a broader appeal. Sort of following the trajectory of the PKK going from an orthodox Marxist-Leninist nationalist movement to this kind of more open Democratic Confederalist model, though still pretty nationalist. I have heard from some friends who fought in Raqqa that there is some Arab resentment within the SDF about having to answer to Kurds, but they counter balance it by not imposing some of the more “social revolutionary” aspects of Rojava outside of the Kurdish dominated areas.