Iraq is sovereign again.

Meran left last week, but was in Germany until this weekend. By now, he will be back in Iraq, but to a new as yet unknown assignment.

In the meantime, I try to engage my daughter Eva online in chat, but she responds back, "...if you don't mind I can't talk right now, but I will try and talk to you later; I am writing a letter to Meran. He arrived in Mosul and I am trying to get some stuff off my chest that is bothering me...It is a little intense."

I tell her that's OK, I understand. And I do in ways many mothers wouldn't. I also know that there is a lot of water to go yet under many bridges, but that my daughter will come out of this stronger and better. I wish the best for Meran, also. In the meantime, Eva is everything to Salih, Bilal, and Mu'min. I pray that she will remember her family, friends, and her own common sense when things start to become overwhelming...