Three years ago, Matthew VanDyke narowly escaped a Libyan prison after being arrested while researching a book. Now, he’s back in a war zone for more.
On Friday, VanDyke tweeted that he’s in Iraq to join the fight against ISIS.
Why I haven’t been on Twitter much the past 2 months: I am in #Iraq helping to raise a Christian army to fight #ISIS: http://t.co/7Z1WvVNEaK
— Matthew VanDyke (@Matt_VanDyke) February 19, 2015
Clicking on that link reveals that VanDyke is the CEO of Sons of Liberty International, which bills itself as a nonprofit contracting firm that “provides free security consulting and training services to vulnerable populations to enable them to defend themselves against terrorist and insurgent groups.”
Then there’s another link, that shows a training camp connected to VanDyke’s group.
Training Camp #NPU Nineveh Plain Protection Units – pic.twitter.com/mnwvp30W96
— Assyrian Defense (@AssyrianDefense) February 15, 2015
VanDyke has hardly been silent since returning from Libya. His documentary film on the journey, Point and Shoot, is billed as a”quest for manhood that transformed him in profound ways.” It was up for a variety of awards.
While in Libya, VanDyke fought with rebels and worked on a book about his travels in the Middle East before being captured by loyalists to former dictator Mouammar Ghadaffi. He also fought alongside Syrian rebels.
