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Locked on 01/21/2007 12:30:17 PM PST by Religion Moderator, reason:
Blaming Bush instead of the Islamicists for the tragedy won’t fly on FR |
Posted on 01/21/2007 8:21:40 AM PST by OrthodoxPresbyterian
Iraqi Christians Lose All Hope with Violence, Anarchy
Difficulties and persecution is nothing new to the minority Christians living in Iraq. However, local Christians are now saying that the anarchistic situation in their country has destroyed all optimism for a better future.
"Almost no one sees a bright future for Iraq," said Stefan De Groot, co-worker of the international organization Open Doors, according to a report on Tuesday.
De Groot, who visits Iraq several times a year, says that every time he visits, a local believer tells him that the situation is worse than the last time he visited.
"Another Christian told me he had to buy new clothes for his wife because during a shooting on the streets, her wardrobe was riddled with bullets," recalled De Groot. "A third man explained in detail what happened when he brought his son to school and a car bomb went off. The little boy ran inside the school and saw a human heart hanging against the window."
There are four violent groups in Iraq: Sunnite insurgents who used to belong to Saddam’s Baath Party; Sunnites, who are fighting for Al Qaeda; Shiites; and a group comprised of criminals and gangs who don’t belong to any of the other insurgency groups, according to De Groot.
The Open Doors co-worker said that the violent groups attack Christians for the main purpose of money to finance their fights.
"Most Christians are shop owners and have some money," said De Groot. "In addition, the small Christian minority has no armed branch which can take revenge or provide protection for them."
Nearly half of the Christians in Iraq have fled since the early 1990s.
The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) call the massive exodus of Assyrian Christians, who make up the majority of the Iraqi Christian population, a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations reports that although Assyrians comprise only five percent of Iraq’s population, they make up nearly 40 percent of the refugees fleeing Iraq.
Assyrian Christians living in America have rallied, calling on U.S. leaders to help form an autonomous zone in Iraq for Assyrians and other Christians where they can practice their faith freely and work without persecution.
"Because of their small population, weak status, and lack of regional support, they have no one to protect them from all the violence," said Paul Isaac, one of the organizers of the Christians for Assyrians of Iraq rally in December.
The Open Doors ministry operates several Christian cultural centers in Iraq to support the country’s Christian population through skill-building courses. The centers host religious dialogues and conferences where movies like Jesus Film are shown or discussions on Christian cultural topics are held.
"Mission Accomplished"!?
Mission Accomplished!?
The latest good news from free, democratic New Iraq.
BTTT
The U.S. has basically p!ssed away 3,000+ American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars for the sole purpose of establishing an Islamic state in the Middle East.
If this makes sense to anyone here, please wake me up and fill me in on the details.
The US Government is now spending Hundreds of Billions of dollars -- and thousands of GI lives -- to prop up a "Post-War Iraqi Government" which is dominated by the SCIRI Party and the Al-Dawa Party, the same nice people who brought you the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis and the 1982 Mass-Murder of 240 Marines in Lebanon! Our wonderful new "Allies" in the War on Terror, I guess.
Why are we supporting these madmen??
Sheesh...
Of course, if the football team takes more than 30 seconds in the locker room to pray a bowdlerized little Christian Grace before the game, it's an ACLU Separation of Church and State federal case (can't have that at a tax-funded University, doncha know -- even though college football is self-financing).
“How little faith you have! Why did you falter?”
Good try...but the facts on the ground don't make any difference to the true belivers who support this war, no matter the consquences.
I agree that the Libertarian types are probably more prone to hyperbole than most.
But being a supporter of the war - even now - I still have to ask why we cannto set up separate Iraqi states with autonomous rule?
The three state scenario doesn't seem so awful to me. And I don't think it means an admission of failure, either.
Are you suggesting that George W. Bush is the Messiah?
If he (or should I say "He"?) is not, then it behooves us to admit that spending hundreds of billions of dollars and 3,000 GI lives to establish an Islamic theocracy dominated by Terrorist parties is, dare I say... a failure.
If this be treason... make the most of it.
Had we handed over power back in 2003 to the Iraqis (even a government led by Chalabi), there is a better chance that the facts on the ground would be better than this. At least then, the Iraqis would have had to sink and swim. As it is, Maliki and company are like welfare recipients who have neither the motivation nor ability to survive unless they are on the U.S. teat.
If you mean 'with states rights' it might work but not three separate countries within a country.
But with RPG's and IED's instead of turf war drive-bys, that is.
The three state solution was always about that. No, I wasn't suggesting three entirely different countries. ;-)
Longterm, the Kurds aren't going to stay in a three state Iraq and why should they? Heck, they probably won't even send more troops to Baghdad.
Hello!!!! wake up, the same thing is happening here in America
just in a different form.
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