Persecution Of Iraq's Christians Begins

Compass Direct ^ | Wednesday March 19, 2003 | Compass Direct

[Zipporah]

Islamists Accelerate Religious Rhetoric, Intolerance

[rageaholic]

Tariq Assiz is a Christian, using the term loosely.

[EternalVigilance]

You can call a donkey a Mazeratti, but it's still an ass...

[Grand Old Partisan]

Many of Saddam's bodyguards and secret policemen are Christians.

[Commander8]

I pray for my brothers and sisters in bondage.
Somehow, I get this feeling that their plight will not improve with Saddam Hussein's removal.

[Illbay]

This is greatly misleading.

Iraq has NEVER been a "religious nation," ever. Saddam was a self-proclaimed atheist, in line with his Ba'athist beliefs, which is a sort of pan-Arabic fascism.

Saddam has USED the Islamists, but he uses everyone (even French).

Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister, is a Christian. There is no real history of religious strife in Iraq; even the Sunnis and the Shi'ites (Iraq is majority Shia, like Iran) are not particularly antagonistic unlike in other areas of the Muslim world.

I know that fundy Christians love to wave this bloody shirt, but Saddam "persecutes" only one single group of people: Anyone who makes him the slightest bit of trouble. It doesn't matter who you are or who you worship, you're going to die.

[Illbay]

There is no "Christian persecution" in Iraq. There are only two groups there: You are in the Ba'ath party, or you are not.

[Grand Old Partisan]

The Baath Party was founded by a French-educated Christian Iraqi who had Vichy-Nazi sympathies.

[victim soul]

Christians don't commit murder.

[Zipporah]

What you say is true about the Christian in Iraq's Foreign minister.. but what the Assyrian Christians charge that there has been religious persecution and that is their fear that it will escalate.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Well, they're not supposed to....

[Spirited]

My word, how on earth can this be?

Must be "christians" rather than Christians.

Not even "all who cry Lord, Lord..."

[Illbay]

No one can predict the future, but there is no reason to believe this is going to happen.

The Islamists don't have much of a foothold in Iraq, outside of foreigners like al-Qa'ida and those Kurdish guys. Again, Iraq is not a particularly religious country. In fact, it's probably the Christians that are the religious folks there.

[kimmie7]

I'm listing this link for those concerned about Christian persecution worldwide. It is to Voice of the Martyrs. Just FYI and prayers. http://www.persecution.com

[Illbay]

That's right. During WWII, the Nazis had a "puppet state" in the region, based in Mosul.

[Zipporah]

thanks.. I appreciate the link.

[Lijahsbubbe]

What's so misleading about it? The article says moslem preachers have been whipping people up telling them to "fight the infidels" (Christians and Jews).

Someone cut a seventy year olds nun's head off, and tortured her Islamic style. Whaddya think some Christians did it?

[Illbay]

No, I think someone alleges these things happened.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

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