ISIS Closes In On Christians in Dramatic Overnight Development

Aleteia ^ | August 7, 2014 | JOHN BURGER

[NYer]

Various

ISIS, the radical Islamist group that forced Christians out of Mosul with the threat of death, has taken control of most of the villages of the Nineveh Plain, the northern area where Iraqi Christians have hunkered down in what is appearing increasingly to look like ethnic cleansing.

In a statement in which the Vatican referst to "terrible developments," Pope Francis has called for help from the "international community."

"His Holiness urgently calls on the international community to protect all those affected or threatened by the violence, and to guarantee all necessary assistance—especially the most urgently needed aid—to the great multitude of people who have been driven from their homes, whose fate depends entirely on the solidarity of others," today's statment read."

The overnight development was reported in an urgent letter from Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
 
“The ISIS militants attacked with mortars most of the villags of the plain of Nineveh, during the night of 6th-7th of August and now they are controlling the area,” Patriarch Sako said, writing from Baghdad today in a letter emailed to Aleteia partner Aid to the Church in Need.

The Associated Press, quoting "several priests in northern Iraq," reported that militants from the Islamic State group overran a cluster of predominantly Christian villages alongside the country's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, sending tens of thousands of civilians and Kurdish fighters fleeing from the area.

The capture of Qaraqoush, Iraq's biggest Christian village, and at least four other nearby hamlets, brings the Islamic State to the very edge of the Iraqi Kurdish territory and its regional capital, Irbil.

Irbil is one of the towns to which the Christian population of Northern Iraq, which stands at approximately 100,000, is fleeing, along with Duhok and Soulaymiyia, Patriarch Sako said. The veritable exodus, taking place under soaring temperatures, includes sick, elderly, infants and pregnant women, he said.

“They are facing a human catastrophe and risk a real genocide,” the Patriarch wrote. “They need water, food, shelter…”

Patriarch Sako said that churches and affiliated properties in the Christian villages are being occupied, and some are being destroyed and desecrated. The destruction includes the burning of old manuscripts and documents, he added.

The Islamic State has already seized large chunks of northern and western Iraq in a blitz offensive in June, including Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul. The onslaught has pushed Iraq into its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The al-Qaida-breakaway group since has imposed a self-styled caliphate in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, imposing its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Iraqi government forces and allied Sunni tribal militiamen have been struggling to dislodge the Islamic State militants with little apparent progress.

Bishop Joseph Tomas, who is based in the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk, said the Islamic State pushed into Qaraqoush and four surrounding hamlets—Tilkaif, Bartella, Karamless and Alqosh—on Wednesday and was in control of them on Thursday.

Kurdish peshmerga units, which had protected the area, fled along with civilians, Bishop Tomas said. Other priests contacted by AP confirmed the information.

The raid started late Wednesday, and by 10pm, most Kurdish fighters had pulled out, said Father Gabriel, a resident of Alqosh.

The Christians and members of other minority groups ran for their lives, with tens of thousands heading to Kurdish northern Iraq, he added.

"All Christian villages are now empty," said Bishop Tomas.

[NYer]

The Islamic State is selling women.

[blueyon]

Heavenly Father, we come before you and praise you. There is none greater then you. May your glory be known. Please protect these Christians, put your angels around them to minister to them, give them strength and provide for them. Let it be to your glory, we pray, In Jesus name Amen

[petitfour]

Amen!

[daniel1212]

Amen and amen.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Truly a horror. A horror.

[Grampa Dave]

“We could use a 21st century crusade. Given what the local ruling families are doing with Israel and Hamas I suspect they’d be welcomed.”

Over the decades I stopped listening to priests and preachers condemning the Crusades.

When they start that bs, I stop them and say, “If the crusades had not happened, none of us would be alive today and attending a Christian religious services.”

None have tried to repute what I said.

[Grampa Dave]

This is part of the Islamic serial killers overall plan:

1. Destroy Israel and kill all Jews.

2. Kill all Christians and seize their properties.

Most rabid liberals have zero problems with #1 and #2. They hate real Jew and Christians.

[Resolute Conservative]

Here in the US all the Christians I know are heavily armed and would not turn the other cheek, but alas over there they are unarmed and unorganized.

[1010RD]

You’re right. History’s being taught all wrong. It’s Christianity and the absolute nuclear family that created Western Civ, not anything else. We have living examples of where other religions, cultures and family systems lead. The most common family system is tribal - it didn’t work for the American Indians, Africans, ME or SA or CA or Asia.

The industrial revolution is a function of Christian values and the absolute nuclear family. We owe the jutes and Germans a lot. Go look at world GDP and you’ll see the massive explosion in welfare and wealth. That came from England and later the US. That’s history.

[NYer]

Did any of you watch Obama's speech last night? Obama said the religious minorities are under the threat of genocide from militants from the Islamic State (IS), the group formerly known as ISIS, and are stranded on the mountain without food or water. He said airstrikes could also be used to help protect those civilians. Good! However, in referring to the "religious minorities", he used the word christian only once! His empathy was focused on the Yazidis, a word he repeated over and over again!

The Yazidis, BTW, follow an ancient religion with ties to Zoroastrianism. Muslims refer to them as devil worshipers. I had never heard of this group and while I am grateful for the food drop, it struck me very strange that christians were set aside, once again, in the rationale behind the emergency food drop.

[1010RD]

Do we really need anymore proof that Obama’s not a Christian, at least not in the sense of Christ? Rev. Wright should have been enough.

[itsahoot]

Whatever few Christians are still left in that “country” need to GTFO. Now, not tomorrow, not in an hour and a half, now.

And go where,pray tell?

[Mr. Jeeves]

Most rabid liberals have zero problems with #1 and #2. They hate real Jew and Christians.

Because they fail to understand that the next part is:

3) Kill all liberals, whether or not they have expressed "brotherly" support for Islam in the past.

[VerySadAmerican]

Yep, Iraq is ridding itself of Christian values almost as fast as the US.

[Candor7]

You want the truth? Find it here. Genocide.And Obama is white washing it with the help of the NYT.

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Yazidi Member of Iraq Parliament Collapses
You Tube ^ | 5 Aug 2014 | KurdFromNL
Posted on 9/8/2014 08:31:49 by Candor7

Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament “Fiyan Dakheel” (of the Kurdistan Alliance) collapses in tears after calling upon Humanity to rescue the Yazidis from Genocide. The Iraqi Parliament came together on 5 August 2014 to discuss the latest developments inside Iraq.

(Video at link)

Obama has become a mouse that tried to roar and he barely even squeaked, he suffers from a horrid leftist ideological disease which threatens our nation and international order.

The West should be fighting ISIS with all we have got, and Obama is not even forming a coalition of states to stop these MSM hidden crimes against humanity.The MSM is just NOT covering this. Meanwhile WWIII looms over the world. Its 1925 all over again.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3190775/posts

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Supplemental Info at:

http://www.shoebat.com

http://shoebat.com/2014/07/29/rare-footage-muslims-create-literal-river-human-blood-butchering-1500-innocent-people/

Obama is just paying lip service to stopping these barbarians. Obama needs to be pilloried.He should be organizing a coalition to stop them, but now he has no friends in the ME, except the Muslim Brotherhood. We cannot allow this to continue. Obama is DONE if the truth about what he is NOT doing gets out.

[Yardstick]

It’s a peculiar kind of leftist tunnel vision to care about the Yazidis yet be nearly indifferent to the Christians.

To some extent it probably shows that he understands his liberal base. He’s under pressure from his commanders in the region to step in and do something about the ISIS advances, and I doubt he wants to have an ethnic cleansing take place on his watch. But he knows his base will go ballistic if he reverses his campaign promises and does anything militarily over there, and he knows that a mere slaughter of Christians won’t change their minds.

But these Yazidis are another story. They are the kind of ethnic minority that liberals can sympathize with — exotic and, well, not Christian. So Obama is playing up the Yazidi angle to get some slack from his base to start taking some military action.

[Yardstick]

I’ll add that the focus on the Yazidis while ignoring ISIS’s barbaric treatment of Christians and other minorities reminds me of the liberal tunnel vision on Tibet. They’ll sport a Free Tibet bumper sticker but can’t be bothered about the other political persecution that China engages in.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the feedback on the actions of our Sunni Potus.

He hates Christians as much as his Sunni Bros, ISIS does.

[NYer]

But these Yazidis are another story. They are the kind of ethnic minority that liberals can sympathize with — exotic and, well, not Christian. So Obama is playing up the Yazidi angle to get some slack from his base to start taking some military action.

Most perspicacious! Judging from the msm coverage of O's speech, they have also glommed on to the "yazidis" with only a casual mention of "christians" as an aside, if at all.

[ronnyquest]

Here is an interesting counterpoint to this whole ISIS and ISIL affair:

Simon Elliot, aka Al-Baghdadi, son of Jewish parents, Mossad agent

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, so-called ”Caliph,” the head of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is, according to sources reputed to originate from Edward Snowden, an actor named Elliot Shimon, a Mossad trained operative.