March 2004 Journal Entry Concerning Iraq

Work took me to the home of a Chaldean Christian family in the Dearborn, Michigan area in March 2004. The current ISIS atrocities bring to mind my talk with the homeowner's son, who predicted for Iraq the rise of the fundamentalists and the persecution of the Christians. When we talked it had been a year since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Here's an excerpt from my March 2004 journal:

I met the son (in his thirties) and he welcomed me and asked me to sit and talk a few minutes. I couldn't say no, so I sat on the couch next to him. He asked his mother to get me some coffee. I couldn't refuse. He was as polite and as generous as he was talkative... He said they were from Iraq, and had come to the United States about twenty years earlier. He said they were Chaldeans, and gave me a quick history of these people. The talk quickly turned to the war. He said it was a mistake for the United States to invade Iraq. The danger in Iraq is from radical Muslims and Saddam kept these people under control (Iraq under Hussein was a secular state). As we talked the wife set a small plate of pastries in front of me, a date wrapped in some type of dough. I thanked her and took one to eat... The son said Saddam should have been allowed to keep Kuwait, as historically that was Iraqi land, and having occupied Kuwait Hussein would have kept the oil flowing to the West. He said Saddam kept Christians in his cabinet ... Since Saddam had fallen from power, the Muslims are now persecuting the Christians. The son said his family loved the United States but it was wrong to topple Hussein...

Fire Prevention Goats

Drought or not, much of California is a tinderbox is the summertime, as months go by without significant rainfall. Some communities are going low tech in their fire prevention efforts, using goats to reduce the tall dead grasses in fields near neighborhoods. Here's a herd of these goats near my house.