Amnesia at the Wall Street Journal
Iraq's Christians are being killed off because of George W. Bush's failed policies, not the rise of radical Islam.
How nice. The supporters of the Iraq war over at the Wall Street Journal have noticed that Christians in Iraq are being killed and exiled.
The New York Times to its credit made the continued persecution of Iraq's Christian minorities its lead story in yesterday's paper. Amid bloodshed on a large scale in so many places, this may seem like a relatively minor, if unhappy, story. In fact, it raises questions about contemporary Islam's ability to coexist with non-Islamic peoples-in Iraq and elsewhere.
A spate of anti-Christian bombings and assassinations in Iraq culminated recently in the siege of a church, Our Lady of Salvation, which resulted in the death of 51 worshipers and two priests. Afterward, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke with force and eloquence about the deaths: "The Christian is an Iraqi. He is the son of Iraq and from the depths of a civilization that we are proud of."
This is an important and accurate description of the Iraqi past. Some of these Christian minorities have coexisted with Islam in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East since the time of Jesus. Some still speak Aramaic, the ancient language of Christ.
Notably, Journal coverage lags behind that of the New York Times, which the Journal cites. Still, it's good that these enthusiasts for war have noticed one of the consequences of their enthusiasm for war.
But the Journal forgot to mention that. HELLO...
Instead, the editors blamed "the rise of radical Islam." Uh, right. Radical Islam preceded America's invasion of Iraq, but Iraqi Christians weren't being murdered and persecuted then. Indeed, the average Christian woman was far better off living in Baghdad than Riyadh, Washington's stalwart Mideast ally. And the invasion has inflamed radical Islam, which has made Iraqi Christians one of its principal targets.
Advocates of war in Iraq have a lot of blood on their hands. Estimates of the total number of (mostly civilian) Iraqi deaths starts at 100,000. The best calculations probably are closer to 200,000. Some estimates range up to one million.
Another cost of the war has been the destruction of the historic Christian community. As well as sustained assaults on other religious minorities.
Great work, Georgie Bush and his Neocon chorus!
Glad the Wall Street Journal editorial page noticed one of the consequences of the Iraq war it so desperately wanted. Next time, maybe the editors will take responsibility for their handiwork.