printThe heyday for Iraq’s Christian community was under Saddam Hussein, when “Catholics made up 2.89 percent of Iraq’s population in 1980. By 2008,” thanks to the Bush pig, “they were merely 0.89 percent.” Iraq’s “dwindling Christian community,” “whose numbers have plummeted since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion as the community has fled to other countries,” has suffered a terrible loss today.
“Militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces. The bloodbath left at least 58 people dead and 78 wounded — nearly everyone inside.”
Judging from the outcome of the “rescue” raid led by the Iraqi security forces, the latter took almost as much care to avoid casualties as the militants themselves. We trained those Iraqis well, now didn’t we?
If you think Americans are capable of changing the fundamental disregard for the sanctity of human life, endemic among Muslims in that part of the world—you’re an idiot.
UPDATE: Here are some of the headlines coming out of Iraq, via Antiwar.com:
21 Bombs Across Iraqi Capital: At Least 110 Killed
Church Massacre Another Blow for Iraqi Christians
Torture Orders Were Part of US Sectarian War Strategy
Iraqis Fear al-Qaeda Revival After Church Siege
Tuesday: 117 Iraqis Killed, 322 Wounded
But what of those ink-stains digits? Democracy is a mess of pottage. It does nothing to safeguard what matters: life, liberty and property.
The UN has said this before- the following is a letter by “Open Door’ quoting the UN council.
August 2009.
Because there is a clear motif behind the threats to Christian individuals and facilities we
conclude that these are not random incidents but in essence a form of religious cleansing.
Kinds of oppression and persecution, which we have recorded and documented in Iraq:
1. Intimidation and threat letters that request families to leave a particular area, if they
want to spare their own lives.
2. Children are intimidated and tortured as a means of pressuring families into leaving
their family homes and businesses.
3. Kidnapping of male family members.
4. Kidnapping and raping of female family members, often as a means to intimidate
Christian families and to force the woman to marry Muslims and thus become
Muslims themselves.
5. Targeted killing of family members through the use of car-bombs, urging families to
leave the area.
6. Killing of church leaders as a means to instill fear in the Christian community as a
whole.
7. Pressure on families to convert to Islam.
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session7/IQ/ODI_UPR_IRQ_S07_2010_OpenDoorsInternational.pdf
We now see that the ‘religion of peace’ is now stepping up their efforts to bring harmony to Iraq. Remember though that the Pakistanis did the same to Jews in a Hotel in India last year, I think.
Before the Christians were massacres of Assyrians in 1933 and Jews in 1941 in Baghdad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Jews
There were between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews in Iraq who actually had full rights under the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Then, the Brits “liberated” the place and things started going downhill starting in 1932 for Jews – from more than 60 synagogues to less than 60 Jews. I guess all this was because of Israel not returning to the “1967 boundaries”!!!
As a result of Dubya’s “liberation”, there are 2,000,000 exiles living in slums in Damascus and Amman. If their slum population triples by 2030 and 0.01% become violent terrorists, that is 600 suicide bombers / assassins / hijackers serving the call of any violent wacko cause.
And if Iraq isn’t sufficiently depressing, we have the Taliban funded by our Afghan contractors
http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/12/us-paying-taliban-not-to-disrupt-military-supply-lines/
and the “friendly” police clamoring to join:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/world/asia/02afghan.html
and it isn’t clear whether the Taliban will join Kurroptocrat Karzai or whether Karzai will just join the parade of defectors to the Taliban (which, by the way, NEVER ATTACKED AMERICA):
http://www.newsmild.com/karzai-announces-council-to-deal-with-taliban-reconciliation
Thank you, Dubya and successor Barack Hussein for bankrupting us in the name of giving “democracy” to the Islamic world.
This wasn’t just a small, obscure church that was attacked, it was the cathedral. All of the international news sites printed the correct name, not so in the US media. I point this out because it is much harder to dismiss the message sent when the head church is attacked. Christians get out or die.
One last point. The attacks occurred on All Saints Day, one of the holy days of obligation; all Catholics are required to attend mass that day.
[Please provide some hyperlinks. Thanks.–IM]
Sure, here are the hyperlinks, and sorry in advance for the longer post.
This first link details how vague the NYT was about what type of church was attacked, while listing a lot of other details. Several news stories are cited. http://www.getreligion.org/2010/11/massacre-in-a-generic-iraqi-church/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+getreligion%2FDmXm+%28GetReligion%29
The second link, again NYT, gives a lot of detail, but no mention that it was a cathedral that was attacked. http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/premonitions-of-danger-at-baghdad-church-held-hostage/?partner=rss&emc=rss
The South Africans get the name right,
http://www.newstime.co.za/WorldNews/37_Christians_killed_In_Baghdad_Cathedral_Hostage_Drama/14044/
as do the Filipinos.
http://www.newstime.co.za/WorldNews/37_Christians_killed_In_Baghdad_Cathedral_Hostage_Drama/14044/
As for the days of obligation, the chart is linked below. Yes, the attack was on Sunday the 31st, but Catholics follow the Jewish custom of beginning the day at sundown the day before. Thus we have All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) the night before All Saints Day.
http://www.roman-catholic-catechism.com/catholic-holy-days-of-obligation.html