Pirates of the Caribbean Actor Returns to Syria to Fight ISIS
Pirates of the Caribbean Actor Returns to Syria to Fight ISIS
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LONDON - British actor who ditched his Hollywood career to volunteer in the fight against ISIS has re-entered Syria for a second time. He despite being sent home the last time because his fellow fighter claimed they wanted to kill him.
Michael Enright, who appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean alongside Johnny Depp, said he wanted to 'stand up' to the extremists having previously claimed to have spent time fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in 2015.
The 52 year old, originally from Manchester, accepted his acting career is over but insisted he hopes to help defeat ISIS in its de facto capital of Raqqa.
Enright first went to Syria last year but was reportedly kicked out of the fighting units as other soldiers said he was not up to the job and wanted to kill him for his reckless behaviour. But now he has secretly slipped back into Syria saying he wants to prove his worth.
"Somebody has to stand up. Somebody has got to - as we speak right now, little girls are being raped. We should stand up to that," Enright said to Channel 4 News in London.
"First of all, none of the soldiers I fought with say that at all. The only people who have said anything negative were the people I came with from the academy who I came over the hill with - the academy is a place where we train.
I came over the hill with four or five guys, they didn't want me there. I had no military background, I'm an actor - and I didn't realise they really looked down on that - and I'm old as far as they're concerned," he added.
Asked if he was going back for what he hopes is the final push, Enright said: "Yeah, well, to take their capital. Where's your country now? Where's your caliphate now?" No, it's not going to be the rest of my life because one, either I'm going to die over there fighting this time, so in that case I guess it would be. If, God willing, I don't and I make it out then it won't be a long fight anyway. ISIS is not going to be around in that area very long in my opinion at all.'
Previously, Enright has countered allegations that he only went to Syria for publicity and was planning to use his experiences to make a film about his time battling ISIS.
"This is about the evil that is called ISIS and exterminating it from the face of the earth. It's about substantial things, real things. This is about the evil that is called ISIS and exterminating it from the face of the earth,' he said. 'It's about substantial things, real things," he added.
Enright, whose acting CV involves roles alongside Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway, joined the Kurdish YPG forces battling ISIS in March 2015. He wanted to join American President George W Bush’s war against terror after 9/11 in 2001, and planned to enlist in the US Army back then before being talked out of it by friends.
But 14 years on, the final straw for him came in January when he saw the ISIS video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kassasbeh being burned to death. Enright is said to keep the gruesome footage on his mobile phone and watches it whenever his zeal to fight wanes.
Michael Enright, who appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean alongside Johnny Depp, said he wanted to 'stand up' to the extremists having previously claimed to have spent time fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in 2015.
The 52 year old, originally from Manchester, accepted his acting career is over but insisted he hopes to help defeat ISIS in its de facto capital of Raqqa.
Enright first went to Syria last year but was reportedly kicked out of the fighting units as other soldiers said he was not up to the job and wanted to kill him for his reckless behaviour. But now he has secretly slipped back into Syria saying he wants to prove his worth.
"Somebody has to stand up. Somebody has got to - as we speak right now, little girls are being raped. We should stand up to that," Enright said to Channel 4 News in London.
"First of all, none of the soldiers I fought with say that at all. The only people who have said anything negative were the people I came with from the academy who I came over the hill with - the academy is a place where we train.
I came over the hill with four or five guys, they didn't want me there. I had no military background, I'm an actor - and I didn't realise they really looked down on that - and I'm old as far as they're concerned," he added.
Asked if he was going back for what he hopes is the final push, Enright said: "Yeah, well, to take their capital. Where's your country now? Where's your caliphate now?" No, it's not going to be the rest of my life because one, either I'm going to die over there fighting this time, so in that case I guess it would be. If, God willing, I don't and I make it out then it won't be a long fight anyway. ISIS is not going to be around in that area very long in my opinion at all.'
Previously, Enright has countered allegations that he only went to Syria for publicity and was planning to use his experiences to make a film about his time battling ISIS.
"This is about the evil that is called ISIS and exterminating it from the face of the earth. It's about substantial things, real things. This is about the evil that is called ISIS and exterminating it from the face of the earth,' he said. 'It's about substantial things, real things," he added.
Enright, whose acting CV involves roles alongside Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway, joined the Kurdish YPG forces battling ISIS in March 2015. He wanted to join American President George W Bush’s war against terror after 9/11 in 2001, and planned to enlist in the US Army back then before being talked out of it by friends.
But 14 years on, the final straw for him came in January when he saw the ISIS video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kassasbeh being burned to death. Enright is said to keep the gruesome footage on his mobile phone and watches it whenever his zeal to fight wanes.
(rnz)
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