Nina Shea, whom I consider one of the heroes of our age, spotlights the terrible plight of Christians and other minorities in Iraq. Where is the United States government's concern for these who are suffering so immensely? She writes:
. . . The plight of Iraqi’s one million Christians and non-Muslim minorities is not on anyone’s radar screen. The Iraq Study Group Report, for example, ignored them completely.
The situation of the non-Muslim minorities — largely Christians (Chaldean Catholics, Assyrians, Syriac Orthodox, Armenians, Protestants, and Evangelicals), but also including Yizidis (adherents of an ancient angel religion), Mandeans (followers of John the Baptist), Baha’is, Kaka’i (followers of a syncretistic religion in the Kirkuk area), and Jews — is uniquely dire. Half of them are estimated to have been driven
from their homes in the past three years, either to other parts of the country or abroad. The very existence of these non-Muslims within Iraq may soon be extinguished under pervasive persecution that the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees says is targeted against them due to religion.
The State Department’s new Religious Freedom Report accurately depicts a defenseless non-Muslim population in Iraq that is being pounded by all other factions. It describes how al Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias, Kurdish militants, and criminal gangs all persecute and prey on these small religious minorities.
Yet U.S. policies to address their specific circumstances are non-existent. . . . The problems faced by the non-Muslim minorities are unique, and there is a danger that, if we wait until the dust settles, it will be too late for them.
We should view Iraq’s Christian ChaldoAssyrians and small religious minorities as we once did Soviet Jews. The persecution these non-Muslims face stands out against even the backdrop of horrific violence now wracking the rest of the population.
Lacking the militias, tribal structures, and foreign champions of Iraq’s other groups, these Christians and other small groups are singularly defenseless. (Much more)