This one's for the Kurdish Rebels... Headfirst (into political turmoil)

Without doubt, the single most influential BMX freestyle video of all time, the Eddie Roman produced Headfirst featuring Mat Hoffman.  It came out in 1991.  If you're an old school BMXer, this video almost certainly brings back good feelings, and a sense of awe at how far Mat (and Chase) pushed the progression of freestyle in this one video.

The reason I'm sharing this video, is to remind us all how long ago this video was made, it came out about 28 years ago.  At about 34:00 in, you hear Eddie (I think) throwing things we'd all been hearing on the news, because the Gulf War, the first U.S. war in Iraq, was going on then.  The SCUD that he mentions, was an Iraqi missile, for example.  The war was live on CNN, back when CNN was actually a true and functional news organization.  At 34:37, you can hear Eddie say, "That was for the Kurdish Rebels."  The Kurds are a group of people from the area of Northern Iraq.  They have long wanted their own nation, but got lumped into the country of Iraq, a nation cobbled together by the British decades ago.

The Kurds were helping the U.S. fight Saddam Hussein in Iraq way back when this video was made, and they've been an ally to the U.S. since.  For the past several years, they've been the main force actually fighting Isis, with U.S. backing, in the collapsed country of Syria.  Syria is adjacent to northern Iraq, and right below Turkey.  Two days ago, after a call from Turkey's dictator, President Trump completely changed U.S. policy, for no apparent reason, and pulled our help away from the Kurds, which have been our allies since the early 90's, by and large.

The Kurdish Rebels Eddie refers to in the Headfirst video in 1991, are now being attacked by Turkey with help from Russia.  In the volatile Middle East, for no logical reason, without consulting with the State Department, the military, or intelligence officials, President Trump just threw the Kurds under the bus.  He singlehnadedly greenlighted a genocide against the people who have been fighting and dying for years in OUR battle against ISIS.



Here's a news report on the beginning of the attacks on the Kurds, from last night (10/9/2019).  Many Kurds will die, few other groups will want to work with America in the future after this blatant betrayal, and we will all be less safe as Isis rises up again.

I put this in a BMX-oriented context, because us old guys (and gals) can relate to how long the Kurdish people have been working with us, by remembering just how long ago Headfirst came out.  Elections (hacked or legit) have consequences.  Whatever your political views, we need competent leaders and people in government, people who think things through, discuss plans with the smartest people on the subject, and try to act in the best interest of the country.  That's not what's happening these days.