by ANDREW ARNETT

On August 8, U.S. fighters bombed targets in northern Iraq, carrying out President Barack Obama’s vow to defend Iraqi civilians and American interests threatened by militants of the Islamic Nation.

Earlier this week, thousands of Iraqis from the minority religious sect the Yazidi were forced to flee from their homes in the city of Sinjar in order to escape the onslaught of violence posed by ISIS extremists who have threatened to kill those they term the “devil worshippers.”

“There is no one coming to help,” declared Obama in a televised speech on August 7. “Well, today, America is coming to help,”

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby confirmed two F/A-18 fighter jets from aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush dropped laser guided 500-pound bombs on strategic Islamic State positions.

In addition, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said an airdrop of food and water have successfully reached the Yazidi sect that have taken refuge on Mount Sinjar.

In 2003, while working as a freelance videographer in Iraq, I became aware of the Yazidi — a little known religious sect that, until this week, blended unnoticed into the fabric of Iraqi life. I was intrigued by rumors of devil worshipping and snake idolization, but wanted to find the facts.

The Yazidi population numbers between 70,000 and 500,000, and occupies an area which covers Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, though the heaviest concentration is in northern Iraq, in the cities of Mosul and Sinjar.

Theirs’ is an ancient religion that can be traced back to at least the 5th century BC, where there is evidence they may have been a splinter group of early Zoroastrianism.

The Yazidi paradigm encompasses the worship of both light and dark forces, for they believe the universe is a product of both elements. Their supreme being is Yasdan, but he can only be known through his emanations, the greatest of which is the Peacock Angel named Malak Taus.

Malak Taus is a Christ-like figure, and considered to be God’s alter-ego, and thus inseparable from Him. He is associated with the the sun and the light of the sun, and goes by a second name of Shaytan, which means devil in Arabic. Thus arose the notion of the Yazidi as “devil worshippers.”

The Yazidi are a close knit group who shun publicity and are suspicious of outsiders, but my fixer Yassar was able to arrange a formal interview for me with a Yazidi named Ahmad, who worked at the Al Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad.

Gate of Yazidi Temple by Ussher (1865)

ARNETT: I was reading about how the dog and the snake had a significance in your religion. Could you explain how these symbols are worshipped, or viewed?

AHMAD: The dog doesn’t represent anything for us. It(the dog) takes care of animals. As for the snake, we believe in the myth that a snake filled a hole on the prophet Noah’s ark, which prevented the ark from sinking.

ARNETT: What are your religious practices, and how do you worship your God?

AHMAD: The sun is the main cause of life. As light, it is proof of God’s existence. We pray at sunrise and at sunset and, similar to Muslims who face Mecca and the Kaaba when they pray, we pray facing the sun.

ARNETT: If you face the sun when praying, to pay respect to the light, how do you pay respect to the dark, if you worship both the light and dark forces?

AHMAD: The prayer before sunset, same as the morning prayer, is our way of paying respects (to the coming darkness).

ARNETT: Some people have described the Yazidi as “devil worshippers.” Where does that description come from?

AHMAD: We don’t care for such statements. We are accused of such worship but we don’t worship the devil.

ARNETT: So it is false?

AHMAD: We worship God directly. There is nothing between God and our worship (of God).

ARNETT: Do you have a holy book, like the Christians have the Bible?

AHMAD: Each person who believes in God will keep in his mind the instructions of worship so there is no need to write a book. We have few books. If a man doesn’t believe in God, he won’t keep a book about God in his thoughts.

ARNETT: I see, like the American Indians, a tradition passed on by word of mouth. Do you worship a prophet?

AHMAD: No. We respect prophet Mohammad as a prophet, but we don’t worship him.

ARNETT: Do you consider yourself Arab?

AHMAD: No, we are Kurdish people, not Arab.

ARNETT: There is a rumor that you don’t spit on the ground, out of respect for the devil, because the devil resides beneath the earth.

AHMAD: We respect everything that God created, because he created these things for us. But we only consider God as being holy, and we only worship God.

You can follow Andrew Arnett on Twitter at @AndrewArnett.