Following a fact-finding trip to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, a group of American religious leaders reports that the faith community in Kurdistan "is a success story that is still being told." This could offer hope for Iraqi Christians seeking a home in a war-ravaged, dangerous religious climate.

Gary B. Trudeau's Doonesbury, which newspapers publish either with the comics or the editorial cartoons, just wrapped up a series about Iraqi Christian refugees. Roland (in this series a Fox News correspondent) is trying to cover the story of an Assyrian family in a way that is flattering for the Surge. Doonesbury treats the imaginary Iraqis with a great deal of dignity. Fox News doesn't fare so well.

Fox News actually did run an Associated Press story about "Christians Fleeing Violence in Iraq" in early May, which brings up the matter of ransoms most Christians pay for "protection."

The background--not in the comic strips, although alluded to--is that Iraq's Christians, the largest non-Muslim religious group in Iraq , are represented disproportionately in the refugee population (although it should be mentioned that the Assyrian diaspora dates back to World War I). It's such a huge drain that some churches in Iraq have no members left. Christians can be identified by their names and ID cards, and they are often targeted for violence. The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) is calling it genocide. So, many Assyrians leave as soon as they can. Others, like the family in Doonesbury, wait until something unbearable happens.

Whatever you think about the morality of the death penalty in general, you've got to admire the leaders of the Chaldean Christians in Iraq. In a land that is torn by ethnic and religious power struggles - a place where memories of past travesties are nurtured for the sake of political advantage - these Christians have responded in a very Christian manner to the Iraqi Central Criminal Court's death sentence for the Al Qaeda leader who abducted and perhaps killed their archbishop.

Paulos Faraj Rahho was kidnapped February 29. His body was discovered March 13. (The cause of death is still uncertain, since Rahho suffered from a heart condition and his body appeared not to have been shot.)

Compass Direct offers this report of church leaders' response to the death sentence: