This article and video first appeared on the Daily Signal.
The Daily Signal foreign correspondent Nolan Peterson recently visited the Kurdish peshmerga's front line positions surrounding the ISIS stronghold of Mosul—Iraq's second biggest city.
The peshmerga, which translates to "one who faces death," are allies of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led international coalition combating the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS.
Kurdish commanders say the U.S.-led airstrikes have been a game-changer, degrading their enemy and boosting the Kurds' morale. And despite a lack of heavy weapons and ammunition, the peshmerga soldiers are determined to keep fighting.
The Kurds say they're fighting for Iraqi Kurdistan's independence, and to defend the outside world from ISIS. For some soldiers, the fight is personal.
Nolan Peterson, a former special operations pilot and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is the Daily Signal's foreign correspondent based in Ukraine.
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