The ancient name for the city of Mosul is Ninevah. Eric and Ethan know the story of Jonah and Ninevah thanks both to their Sunday school teachers and also from the Veggie Tales’ Jonah movie*. In the movie, Jonah drags his feet because he doesn’t want visit the town where people are constantly slapping each other with fishes!
Today, Mosul is once again on the map of Iraqi hotspots.
See this NPR story on Mosul. (summary: 2004 saw fierce fighting, and now it’s one of the last “strongholds,” where stronghold is a relative term).
Not to spoil the end of the Veggie Tales movie for you, but Jonah uses the power of information to convince the citizens that there’s a better way. Jonah is hesitant at first, believing that God really ought to smite the Ninevites. But Jonah comes around and uses teaching and diplomacy to persuade the citizens that there’s a better way. They go back and forth a little bit, because it’s easy to fall back to your old ways of feuding.
At our stage of the Iraqi conflict, our weapons aren’t really bullets and tanks, it is Information. Telling, showing and teaching the people of Iraq about the infrastructure: clean water, schools, sewage, reliable power. Commerce. And giving them the freedom of movement to experience this themselves. We can be close by, just in case a few poor sports want to fall back to their feuding, but mostly we want to teach, coach, and reassure the citizens that life can be better!
* Learn about the Veggie Tale's Jonah movie 
