Implications Of Iraq's Treatment Of Christians

As bad as what the condition of the Jewish community in Iraq has disintegrated into, the situation of the Christian community today reveals horrors--which have occurred after the end of Saddam Hussein's reign during the American presence in Iraq.

CBS's 60 Minutes did a report on Vicar: Dire Times For Iraq's Christians:



From the website:

"You were here during Saddam’s reign. And now after. Which was better? Which was worse?" Pelley asked.

"The situation now is clearly worse” than under Saddam, White replied.

"There’s no comparison between Iraq now and then," he told Pelley. "Things are the most difficult they have ever been for Christians. Probably ever in history. They’ve never known it like now."

"Wait a minute, Christians have been here for 2,000 years," Pelley remarked.

"Yes," White said.

"And it’s now the worst it has ever been," Pelley replied.

...In modern times, under Saddam, Christians were treated much the same as Muslims; Saddam's right hand man, Tariq Aziz, was Christian.

Before the war, it's estimated there were about a million Christians in Iraq. They were a small minority, but free to worship, free to build churches, and free to speak the ancient language of Jesus, Aramaic. But, after the invasion, Muslim militants launched a war on each other and the cross.

Regardless of who the next president is, at some point the US will be withdrawing more and more troops from Iraq. My question is, what impact would an Iraq such as this--where these kinds of persecutions and murders take place--have on the Middle East in general and on Israel in particular?

Technorati Tag: Iraq and Christians.