In April, I started an 18-month gig in Sulaymaniyah in northeastern Iraq.  The city of 1.7 million sits in a dust-swept valley surrounded by green mountains.  It was the historic capital of the Kurdish principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850, and remains an intellectual and cultural capital of the Soranî Kurdish dialect. The President of Iraq and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), "Mam" Jalal Talabani, speaks Sorani. The other major dialect is Kurmanji which is spoken widely to the north and west of Sulaymaniyah. Masoud Barzani, who heads the other major ruling party of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Part (KDP), speaks Kurmanji.  Both dialects mingle in the central northern city ...

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The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.