Col. Caggins: Kurds fight terrorism alongside the US in Iraq, Syria

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan24) – US Army Col. Myles Caggins served as the Spokesman for the US-led Coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) from August 2019 to September 2020.

Earlier this month, Caggins assumed a new position, as visiting US Army fellow at New York’s prestigious Council on Foreign Relations.

In between those two postings, Caggins held the post of Director of Public Affairs for the Army’s III Corps at Ft. Hood, Texas, which, last month, deployed units to Afghanistan to assist in the US withdrawal from that country.

Throughout his year as Spokesman for the US-led Coalition, formally known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OR), Caggins developed a genuine appreciation for the Kurds and made many friends among them.

“I’ve had the most incredible year of my life in this role as Coalition Spokesman,” Caggins told Kurdistan 24 in September 2020, as he prepared to return to the US.

“And part of that has been my relationship with the people of Kurdistan and Kurds around the world,” Caggins continued. “I’ve learned so much about how to treat people by looking at the example of how the Kurds have treated me.”

Read More: Outgoing Coalition Spokesman leaves Kurdistan with a love for the Kurds

In New York, Caggins continues to pursue his relationships with Kurds and their culture. September 11 is a special day for Kurds, as it marks the start, in 1961, of the September revolution, which led to the creation of today's Kurdistan Region.

September 11 is also a significant date in history for Americans. The September 11, 2001, attacks mark the most lethal terrorist strike in US history. Those attacks had an unanticipated consequence for Kurds: they contributed to a major advance in the September Revolution because they precipitated the US decision to oust Saddam Hussein and his regime.

Read More: The two 9/11’s in modern Kurdish history

The annual New York Kurdish Film and Cultural Festival was held this year on the 60th anniversary of the September Revolution and the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Read More: New York Kurdish Film Festival completes its fifth year with females in focus

There, we caught up with Col. Caggins, who spoke to Kurdistan 24 about the 9/11 attacks.

“Much of the world changed, especially in the United States and in the Middle East” on that day, Caggins said.

It triggered “a 20-year war on terror,” he continued, as the United States and a Coalition “stood up against terror in Afghanistan” and “against terror in Iraq and Syria.”

“In every location,” the U.S. has worked with “local fighting forces,” he said, citing the Kurdish forces that have been America’s partners in the fight against ISIS: the Peshmerga, Zeravani, Asayish in the Kurdistan Region, and the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighboring Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

“We know that we must remain committed,” Caggins continued, “committed to promoting peace; committed to promoting prosperity and committed to promoting equality and freedom,” including “freedom to worship in whatever way a person chooses to worship.”

“But if we must, we are ready to go and face our enemies and tackle the terrorists in the same way we have worked together to defeat ISIS since 2014 in Iraq and Syria,” he concluded.

Kurdistan 24’s Rahim Rashidi interviewed Col. Caggins.