A family's long, risky road from hell to hope

The Tennessean ^ | Thursday, 01/29/04 | HOLLY EDWARDS

[octobersky]

As they sit in the comfortable living room of their Nashville home, members of the Tayip family say the horrors they experienced in their northern Iraq homeland seem further away every year.

But to this day, they say, their suffering and hardships continue to shape their lives and how they see the world.

[octobersky]

"Some of them were toddlers or infants, others were young children when nearly a dozen members of the family fled their Kurdish village in 1988 as Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein attacked the Kurds with bombs and chemical weapons."

Yet another account that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction...

[NorthGA]

"most of the Tayips have become U.S. citizens, while a few are not yet prepared to take the language and history tests required for citizenship. "

What a great family to protect each other, appreciate what they now have, and assimilate into their new culture. Very different from the radicals of other cultures that expect our melting-pot culture to change for them.

[octobersky]

Roger that! That's exactly what I was thinking.

[WaterDragon]

I'm glad they made it to safety, and not surprised they are agitating for a separate nation for the Kurds. That's long been a dream of the Kurds, though I don't think Iraq should be broken up like that.

What I do NOT believe is that they've gotten a lot of racial hatred in this country. Of course we do have a few nuts but most Americans are NOT racists, as the Left viciously insists. These Kurds will get a better hearing if they don't succumb to exaggerating.