Nashville is home to the world's largest population of Kurds outside the ME.

I met my first Kurd, Zabari, a Kurd who fled after the '90 Gulf War. Great guy. Friendly, empathetic, knowledgeable. We talked over the years about Saddam and eventually teamed up to raise money to drill wells in Kurdistan, where many had to walk miles to get water. He was glad I was a white guy who knew about the Kurds, Saddam's butchery, etc

He opened a restaurant and worked sunup to close at 10. Gyros and other Middle Eastern food.

In 2003, I was surprised when he told me that over the past 20 years he'd also managed to earn a Masters Degree in International Affairs, and was moving to Mosul to work as a contractor for the the U.S. He is now a multimillionaire businessman there. It couldn't have happened to a better guy.

The Kurds I know here are are wonderful people who've built lives and have assimilated very well.