"In order to understand the nature of the Syrian conflict, it is essential that we remember the first years of the uprising, and, through remembering what took place between 2011 and 2014, dispel the myth that Syria has always been a proxy war or has always been a struggle between a secular government and jihadis. To ignore the years which lead Syria from a democratic uprising to a bloody proxy war is to read history backwards."

A NYMag piece on PissPigGranddad's six-month tour of duty with the YPG in Syria. This article includes quite a bit of overlap with the Rolling Stones article I have linked to before, but it's even better.

@PissPigGrandad was interviewed on the Chapo Trap House podcast shortly after this article came out: https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-82-war-is-heck-feat-pisspiggranddad-21317