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Posted on 12/28/2008 9:48:53 AM PST by PRePublic
Iraq Christians face 'bleak future'
Story Highlights:
· Iraq's Christians face killings, intimidation; many have fled to other countries
· Community has decreased from 1.4 million in 2003 to half that
· One expert sees diversity decreasing, fears Muslim extremist majority in Iraq
· Christians in Iraq face "horrible situation," says U.S. congresswoman
By Joe Sterling CNN
(CNN) -- It's a bittersweet Christmas season for Joseph Kassab, who grew up in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime and now lives in Detroit, Michigan. Tempering the season's joy is his concern for fellow Iraqi Christians, who have endured killings, displacement and daily intimidation.
An Iraqi policeman checks security in a Baghdad church where midnight Mass will be celebrated Wednesday.
1 of 3 Christians in Iraq face a "bleak future," said Kassab, executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America, a nonprofit group that helps Iraqi Christians.
"We are heading for a demise," he said. "It's getting to the point where it might be an ethnic cleansing in the future."
A recent U.S. government report focused on the plight of Iraq's Christian minority. U.S. diplomats and legislators are worried, too.
"I think the Christians are caught in the middle of a horrible situation," said U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat of Assyrian and Armenian ancestry.
She said Iraqi Christians are suffering as a result of "religious cleansing," and she has urged more help for minorities who have fled their homes in Iraq.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
CNN = LOL
Maybe we need an airlift for Iraqi Christians.
I laugh at CNN too, but apparently the situation is so dire there that even (Arabist) CNN reported it.
Since when does the CNN care what happens to Christians regardless of their nationality?
The Jews in Nazi Germany had no way to run. Christians in Iraq at this point in time can run. I urge them to do so.
Get out while the getting is good.
“CNN = LOL”
Really? Do you think this article is a lie and that our war in Iraq has not been an unadulterated disaster for Eastern Christians in Iraq? Or do you think that Eastern Christians are expendable if that advances the cause of our Shiite and Sunni allies?
And an airlift back for all muslims.
If this article is true (it’s from CNN for cryin’ out loud), then WHY did they just give CHRISTmas standing as a national holiday in Iraq?!
I would differenciate PR from real life, if you know what I mean.
btt
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The story and fate of the Iraqi Christians has been told before and from various sources. Nothing new here, and I’ve read often that half are already refugees outside Iraq, and that it is dangerous for those still there.
When I heard the news that Christmas had been made a national holiday, it seemed almost like an insult in view of the realities.
Since when have neocons cared about Christians in Iraq? I can’t think of one story in the Weekly Standard, Commentary, Frontpage, etc. on the worsening plight of Christians in Iraq over the last decade. Ever wonder why?
The holiday is a fig leaf. You would know this if you follow the news. The Christian Exodus has been going on for years but after Bush invaded.
The complete opposite of Coulter’s “plan” has occurred in Iraq over the last decade. Yes, there was an invasion but there are fewer, not more, Christians there.
Moving right along.
Those who pay attention to the real news will realize what a sham this is.
Then kindly tell us what you know of real life in Iraq.
At least CNN covered it. I can’t think of a single article in the neocon press, or by by neocons, on this.
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