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If I would have never met Luke, CreatiVets would have never existed," said Richard Casper. "I know Luke has saved lives. We know it."

HOUSTON Music can help to heal even the deepest wounds of war. With the help of some famous songwriters, military veterans are sharing their pain through song.

CreatiVets, the non-profit organization that makes it all happen, started offering music therapy to veterans in honor of Kingwood native Luke Yepsen.

The U.S. Marine Corps. Lance Cpl. was killed in Iraq 14 years ago this week.

He 100 percent saved my life, said CreatiVets Co-Founder Richard Casper of Yepsen.

Every Dec. 14, Casper flies to Houston and visits Yepsens grave at the Houston National Cemetery.

I talk to Luke, and I say, heres whats happened this year," Casper said.

USMC Lance Cpl. Yepsen was the gunner for Caspers Humvee squad in Fallujah, Iraq in 2006. The Marines patrolled a stretch of road looking for improvised explosive devices.

On Dec.14, 2006, we saw an IED on the road and we blocked it off to protect everyone around. And then I say, Luke get down in the truck, Casper said.

He remembers seeing Yepsens legs fold down into the Humvee, which signaled that the 20-year old gunner was in a sitting position.

And then I see him scoot back up, but thats because they keep coming forward to us, and he keeps doing his job, and I was like, man, Luke. Just get down. And he got down and he got back up one last time, and thats when we heard the shot, and then he just fell into the truck," Casper said. "And that was it. I mean, we did what we could do, but he ended up dying that day.

Casper said Yepsen was shot once in the lungs by a sniper.

I recall thinking, like, was this my fault? Thats a big reason why I was afraid to come at first, said Casper of his initial visit to Houston. Because I didnt know his family. I was in charge of him when he died. So who knows what they thought about me?

Casper, an Illinois native, said he suffered from survivors guilt. Its common among military veterans. The overwhelming and painful memories triggered anxiety and pushed Casper into depression.

I didnt want to talk about that with anybody. I didnt want to talk about Luke with anybody. Im 6-foot-5. Combat Marine. Went to war. I rode Harleys. Have tattoos. I did not want to cry in front of people. I was not vulnerable," Casper said.

Yet. Years after Yepsens death, Casper connected with a country music songwriter. The two agreed theyd try to find the words for Caspers unbearable pain.

And I was like this happened to me. This happened to me. This is Luke. And we put together a song and a half, and I said, you did in three hours what I couldnt do in an entire year," Casper said.

Thats how Casper formed the idea for CreatiVets. He got veterans to Nashville, Tenn., to share their stories -- stories veterans may not know how to tell or process.

And we have these songwriters that do it for a living that can tell a love story a thousand different ways. Why cant they tell my story? Casper said.

The nonprofit is at the mercy of donations. CreatiVets covers all expenses for veterans who agree to allow a songwriter to tell their story. The process is done backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. So far, more than 100 stories are now songs. You can listen to them on just about every music platform, including through Alexa devices. All you have to say is, "Alexa, play music by veterans."

Youre getting a look into our world which nobody gets into. So we have family members and people who were like, I didnt know my husband felt that way. But theyre having conversations because now theres a song that connects them," Casper said.

CreatiVets is expanding its reach and hopes to connect with depressed or suicidal veterans in the comfort of their own home.

Yeah. It just kind of worked out, said Kyle Yepsen. Lukes older brother now works for CreatiVets as development director. I hope he would be proud. I think he would. I think he would see that I finally found my true calling.

So many lives helped, healed and saved, all because Luke Yepsen lived.

If I would have never met Luke, if he would have never died beside me, CreatiVets would have never existed. I would have never had the troubles I had. So I just want the world to know that your life is so important. I know Luke has saved lives. We know it," Casper said.

More than 100 veterans are waiting for their turn at the music therapy. CreatiVets relies on donations. If you can help a veteran heal, consider making a donation.

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Kingwood Marine killed in Iraq inspires nonprofit that saves vets through music therapy - KHOU.com

Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq Fears are growing of a full-fledged war between Turkeys outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and forces of the ruling Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in this autonomous region of northern Iraq.

Tensions between the two sides are increasing amid a military standoff on the Iraq-Turkey border, with civilians on both sides strongly rejecting any possible intra-Kurdish confrontation.

The tensions initially began when the KRG-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) accused the PKK of assassinating Ghazi Salih, a security official working at the Sarzer border crossing in Duhok province on October 8.

The PKK, however, denied responsibility.

The situation intensified when the PKK on October 29 claimed responsibility for a successful sabotage action on a KRG pipeline to Turkey near Mardin province, suspending oil exports.

The KRG said it strongly condemns the terrorist attack targeting the pipeline and warned it will never allow threats against its interests and the livelihood of the peoples of the Kurdistan Region.

The PKK has an estimated 5,000 fighters stationed largely in Iraqi Kurdistans rugged mountainous areas. The group is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States. Decades-long clashes between Ankara and the PKK have led to tens of thousands of deaths in both Turkey and northern Iraq.

KDP President Masoud Barzani accused the PKK of infiltrating Kurdish villages and two days later planting a bomb in Duhok that killed a Peshmerga fighter and wounded two others. The attack was condemned by the US, France, and the federal Iraqi government.

Barzani accused the PKK of disrespecting the KRG by invading villages under its control and imposing taxes on locals infringing on its sovereignty and oppressing residents.

The history witnesses that we have deemed Kurdish-Kurdish war haram [religiously banned], Barzani said on November 2. However, this stance should not be mistranslated and exploited to challenge the legal authority of the Kurdistan region and to try to impose an illegal armed will on the people of Kurdistan.

Barzani also alleged that during the height of the fight against ISIL (ISIS), PKK fighters invaded the border areas and some other places while KRGs Peshmerga forces were battling the armed group on the front lines.

The PKK has dismissed all claims and vowed to defend itself against any move by Peshmerga troops.

The PKK-KRG armed standoff is reminiscent of fighting between the two in northern Iraq in the 1990s that killed hundreds of civilians and troops battling for territorial control. Two decades on, a renewed escalation has sparked panic among locals who live in the border areas and who fear history may repeat itself.

The PKK says the KRGs troop deployments to Duhok provinces Zebari and Gare districts are to attack its fighters. The KRG says the Peshmerga are returning to their own bases now that the anti-ISIL campaign is done.

The KRG is carrying out serious military activities in areas where the PKK is present, Murat Karaylan, a member of the PKKs executive council, told Sterk TV in October, adding the armed group is not seeking war.

According to Karayilan, however, a conflict is going to occur from these provocations, referencing the KRGs buildup of soldiers along the border.

PKK official Murat Karaylan, centre, with fighters on Mount Qandil in 2017 [ANF News]Reving Heruri a KDP lawmaker and head of the Peshmerga Committee in Iraqi Kurdistans parliament dismissed Karayilans claims.

The KDP has the right to carry out activities to protect the lives of our people. We are not going anywhere to fight the PKK, but to protect our people, he told Al Jazeera.

The troop deployments to the border areas of Duhok and Erbil provinces are to secure the lives of locals and to prevent them from fleeing their villages, forced on them by others, Heruri said. We hope no party will make any other mistake to stand in the way of them.

Hundreds of villages have been emptied amid months of fighting between Turkeys military and the PKK. Ankara regularly bombs PKK positions in northern Iraq, and has conducted multiple operations against the armed group along the border.

Chamanke town has become the flashpoint of the Kurd-Kurd confrontation. Aland Amir, mayor of the town where a clash took place on November 4, said 35 villages in the region are occupied by the PKK.

Villagers are not allowed to go back to their areas that have fallen under PKK control, unless they pay them tax, Amir told Al Jazeera.

The PKK has become a serious threat to our region. Our people are always subject to getting killed amid the Turkey-PKK crossfire, he said. Turkish bombs are expected to drop anytime. If the PKK leaves then Turkey will not bomb. The more they stay, the worse our people will go through. We ask them to go back to their country and fight their battle on their land, not ours.

Dilshad Khidir lost his mother, brother, and three cousins in a Turkish air strike on their village of Zargali in Erbil province in 2015. He now lives in Sulaimaniyah provinces Raniya district with his father, who was wounded in the attack.

Khidir said his family has endured much under the mercy of the hovering of planes and bang of bombings, and urged the PKK to leave the surroundings of our village so we can return home and resume our life on our land.

Had the PKK not sheltered in our village, this would not have happened to us, he said.

Khidir said he was happy to see the KRG moving to restore its authority and return services, stability and security to our region.

We do not wish to see any intra-Kurdish conflict. We are sick and tired of war Turkey will never come to our region from hundreds of miles to bomb us if the PKK is not here, he added.

The aftermath of a Turkish air strike that killed Dilshad Khidirs mother, brother and three cousins and destroyed their house on August 1, 2015 in the village of Zargali [Courtesy: Dilshad Khidir]Fayaq Gulpi is head of the Democratic Politics Academia in the Kurdistan region and a former PKK official in close contact with its leadership. He said the KRG has amassed troops at border areas close to PKK bases, something that has seriously worried and angered the PKK.

According to what I have learned from PKK officials, they do not want to engage in any war and they say they never initiate conflict but are ready to defend themselves if attacked, Gulpi told Al Jazeera.

The PKK and the KRG must exercise maximum restraint and put the interests of the Kurdish nations before their own interests. Any conflict will bring a lose-lose situation to both sides. I am smelling a war about to break out.

Gulpi accused Turkey of being a major player in this game and warned the two Kurdish sides must not fall into the Ankara trap.

Turkey has said it is determined to take the measures it deems necessary for its border security no matter where it may be.

At Erbils downtown bazaar, shop owners gather to discuss the possibility of all-out conflict between the KRG and PKK.

Enough with intra-Kurdish war. We are Kurds. We are brothers. We share the same fate and blood. President Barzani has declared Kurdish-Kurdish war haram, so do we, said shop owner Shazad Najat.

Another businessman, Shaaban Abdulaziz, added both Kurdish sides need to bury the hatchet.

A veteran Peshmerga soldier, who refused to be named fearing what he said would be retribution from the PKK stooges who are everywhere angrily said: The PKK is executing a foreign agenda. They do all it takes to abort our achievements and successful experience of ruling in the Kurdistan region. They are a terrorist organisation and the KRG should not engage in any dialogue with terrorists.

If they really fight for the greater rights of the Kurds in Turkey, which they all the time claim of doing, they must take this battle back to their own country, or lay down arms and fight for the rights of Kurds in a democratic process, just as the HDP [the Peoples Democratic Party, the largest pro-Kurdish party in Turkey] does.

Lahib Higel, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group in Iraq, told Al Jazeera it was unlikely a full-scale war would develop because both sides have more to lose than to gain.

Should a war break out similar to what we saw in the early 90s, it is likely to be devastating for the PKK as it will draw Turkey further in through its support of the KDP, she said.

But Higel added that the government in Baghdad should step in to help restore peace.

The Iraqi government, she said, should seek all possibilities to cease hostilities through dialogue with Turkey, the KRG and PKK affiliates in Iraq.

Original post:
Kurd vs Kurd: Fears of full-scale war rise in northern Iraq - Aljazeera.com

BAGHDAD (AP) Supporters of a firebrand Iraqi cleric shot dead five people on Saturday, according to medical officials, in overnight clashes with anti-government protesters in southern Iraq.

The anti-government demonstrators attempted to bloc the path of a rally supporting Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr. Followers of the populist cleric also wounded 40 others in the clashes, according to two medical officials.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The anti-government protesters were camped out at a main square in the city of Nasiriya, which has been an epicenter of the youth-led protest movement that has sought to sweep aside Iraqs ruling sectarian elite.

Following the clashes beginning on Friday, al-Sadrs supporters stormed Haboubi square, and torched tents pitched in the square.

Al-Sadr leads a powerful political bloc in Iraqi parliament and his supporters had called for a demonstration in support of the leaders call for mass participation in next years nationwide elections.

Anti-government protesters feel betrayed by al-Sadrs flip-flop approach toward them, especially in the last few months when he withdrew support for their movement.

Dozens returned to the anti-government sit-ins site on Saturday morning in support of those protesters killed overnight.

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Clashes with cleric's supporters kill 5 in southern Iraq - The Associated Press

Erbil, Iraq From ancient battles to last weeks deadly clashes between protesters and supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqs Dhi Qar governorate has often been referred to as the centre of the countrys rebellion and uprisings.

In November 2019, at the height of the countrywide anti-government protests, its capital Nasiriya was referred to as the heart of the uprising. A symbolic move that for some holds true to this day.

Nasiriya is the fire of the revolution, protester Ahmed al-Tamimi said over the telephone from the citys main protest site, Haboubi Square.

The martyrs went with a flag and they were killed in cold blood this is the revolution of the martyrs, he said, referring to the 129 protesters from Dhi Qar who lost their lives over the course of one year.

Last week eight more demonstrators were killed on the streets of Nasiriya when clashes broke out between protesters and followers of the popular al-Sadr.

The violence coincided with the one-year anniversary of the killing of dozens of protesters in what became Dhi Qars bloodiest incident since the beginning of the demonstrations.

Al-Tamimi, who has been at the centre of Nasiriyas uprising since October 2019, admitted fault on both sides.

They [al-Sadr supporters] had bad people and we had bad people. I cannot say that everyone at [Haboubi] square is innocent, some belong to parties [and] infiltrated the square, said al-Tamimi. What happened was a mistake on both sides.

By Tuesday, Nasiriya protesters were back at the site, albeit surrounded by federal police and at the mercy of a curfew. But unlike Baghdads Tahrir Square, where in October tents were cleared out and roads reopened, Haboubi Square is still alive with demonstrators.

The people of Nasiriya have always been praised for their revolutionary belief, said Sheikh Imad Rikaby of the Rikaby tribe. Like him, Iraq commentators have frequently alluded to Nasiriyas long history of rebellion and revolutionary politics to explain Dhi Qars central role in the protests.

I think the real explanation is likely more mundane and reflects primarily the comparative neglect of the province by the federal government when compared with Basra, said Ben Robin-DCruz, a researcher on Iraqi politics at the University of Edinburgh.

Iraqis rally to mark the first anniversary of massive anti-government protests in the southern city of Nasiriya in Dhi Qar province in October [Asaad Niazi/AFP]But in a nationwide uprising that has seen the killing of more than 600 people at the hands of security forces, collective myths are key in fuelling morale. Nasiriya is known across Iraq for its humble and battle-hardened people.

However, argued Robin-DCruz, their heroic resistance to extreme violence doesnt mean the protest movement was at the heart of the October 2019 movement in terms of organisation and strategic decision-making.

Instead, protesters in the province were the most reluctant to engage in the political process or forge alliances with other political forces.

But some hope a corner was turned this week, opening the way for the Haboubi Square movement to play a role in local decision-making.

On Monday, the leaders of Dhi Qars protest movement handed a list of 13 demands to the team sent to Nasiriya by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi following the clashes on Friday.

We will reform our organisation, said protester al-Tamimi. We will restructure and clear out the unruly members.

One of the demands, said al-Tamimi, was that the camp would only be removed if mutually agreed upon by both protesters and local authorities. Another point, he added, was the overhaul of the local government.

Our dreams were stolen, the dreams of our children were stolen, said al-Tamimi. There is nothing we have that is functional. No hospital, no school Everything has been destroyed.

On Tuesday afternoon, al-Tamimi was back in what he said was a calm square, intent on rebuilding what had been lost in Fridays clashes.

Read more from the original source:
Nasiriya: City at the heart of Iraqs uprisings and rebellion - Aljazeera.com

As the coalitions footprint in Iraq and Syria diminishes, international support for institutional changes, such as building a local judiciary and a military that can sustain itself, is necessary to ensure the Islamic State group does not return, the No. 2 commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve said.

United Kingdom Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Copsey, speaking during a virtual Middle East Institute event Nov. 30, said the international political microscope needs to stay focused on areas within Iraq and Syria where ISIS remains. The group still operates in rural areas such as the Euphrates River Valley and contested regions near Kurdistan, though it has shifted to survival mode and is focusing more on criminal activity.

Without continued international support, particularly NATO-led efforts on training and maintaining readiness, ISIS could return because of a continued ability to provide command and control and limited financing in these regions, Copsey said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the organization is stepping up, enhancing our presence in Iraq to provide more support. The U.S., however, is planning to withdraw about 500 troops from Iraq by Jan. 15, 2021, bringing the total American contingent to 2,500 personnel in the country, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller has said.

We need to prevent ISIS from returning, Stoltenberg said on Nov. 30. The best way of doing that is to enable the Iraqi security forces to be able to fight Daesh and to become stronger.

NATO is focused on building the right ability for the security apparatus to hand over to the judicial apparatus, Copsey said. That needs to go hand in hand with trying to resolve all the other security challenges the government faces, of which all the OIR has done is deal with the symptoms. And thats the key thing we need to get after, not the military anymore.

Iraqi military forces are able to conduct day-to-day missions with limited coalition support outside of advising in operations centers. They plan, they exploit any operation. . So that momentum is there, Copsey said. Theres still probably work to do but the day-to-day operations show strong momentum behind it that as we see the twilight of our mission out here I have no doubt that they have the abilities to keep on going.

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International Community Must Remain Focused on ISIS in Iraq, Syria - Air Force Magazine