Since it got bumped up in the list of TRs I ended up reading it only now but wow! I don't think I'll be heading to Iraq anytime soon so thanks for bringing the experience to us.
I was in Erbil back in 2013. I found it relatively very very safe, and it still remains that way. Farthest I travelled was Haji Omaran (180 kilometers northeast of Erbil). Safe is only the area administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), except Mosul. There is a large population of American and European expats, and there are daily flights from Vienna/Austrian Airlines.
Since the end of the war in the south of Iraq in 2003, not a single coalition soldier or foreigner has been attacked or kidnapped in the areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Yes, ISIS is not so far away, but it still feels an entire world apart. Also, with a visa on arrival in Erbil, one
cannot enter Iraq proper. Iraq proper is extremely dangerous, I wouldn't go there for all the money in the world, but northern Iraq (Kurdistan Autonomous Region) , no problem. There are checkpoints between the Kurdistan and Iraq proper regions, and those who enter Iraq proper on a Kurdish visa face getting arrested, imprisoned, and deported.