When I arrived in Kurdistan I registered with the NZ Foreign Affairs who have a list of New Zealanders in dodgy places. This week I received an email strongly recommending I leave Iraq, but also saying that the Kurdish area, although safer, was exposed to terrorism and subject to 'criminal activity'. The terrorism bit I understood, but not the 'criminal activity', so I wrote back asking what did they mean by 'criminal activity' as Kurdistan was one of the safest places I have ever lived.Of course I haven't heard back.
New Zealand has to do some soul searching when a shop keeper is stabbed to death by two 12 and 13 year olds That would NEVER EVER happen in Kurdistan.
New Zealand has to do some soul searching when a shop keeper is stabbed to death by two 12 and 13 year olds That would NEVER EVER happen in Kurdistan.
Glad to see that old habits die hard Peter. Good for you. But how can our foreign affairs department peddle that stuff? Or maybe they are so run down and diminished that the whole thing is operating from Wellington and they know no more about the Middle East than I do.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right about that terrible stabbing. I found it very disturbing on a personal and a societal level.
Thanks for your blog posts and sharing your insights with us.