Assyrian Christians

Welcome support from Petraeus, Crocker for the Assyrian Christians of Iraq
- Ken Joseph jr - September 2007

The Assyrian Christians, the original people of Iraq and the people of Biblical Nineveh the setting of Jonah and the whale, became the first Christian Nation following the death of Christ.

As the only people who speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and with a nearly 10% population in Iraq, they are crucial to the success of the current efforts in Iraq.

Ambassador Crocker said, “I just met recently with one of the Assyrian Christian representatives in Iraq. We fully support all help for the Assyrian Christians and understand their unique situation.”

The Kurds

Apocalypse in Sepia Tone - Jack Harris - September 2007

On our way, as we passed through several small Kurdish towns, (Eastern Turkey is the Kurdish region) we encounter three different wedding caravans. Each lead car is decked out from hood to trunk with ribbons and artificial flowers with four to six cars following in train. Those following the lead car have their windows rolled down, there are hands extended out of those windows holding multicolored scarves streaming like flags in the wind. The colors are red, green and yellow, the colors of the flag of Kurdistan, expressly forbidden in Turkey. I wonder if this is a form of defiance and pro-Kurdistan sentiment, I suspect that it is. I ask my driver but his English is minimal so he doesn't understand my question. I see only the extended hands waving their colors, the faces within remain strangely anonymous under this darkened sepia light. .