Christians flee Iraqi city rather than convert

[NeoTheo]

Ut oh, I am seeing "Us Christians are persecuted" coming up in the political dialog for the next month.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week, terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death, officials said Saturday.
Christians protest in Mosul last month ahead of elections. An official says protests may have led to the attacks.

The attacks may have been prompted by Christian demonstrations ahead of provincial elections, which are to be held by the end of January, the deputy governor of Nineveh province said.

Deputy Gov. Khasro Goran said 13 Christians have been slain in the past two weeks inMosul, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Fleeing Christians have sought refuge in monasteries and churches and with family members in other towns, an Interior Ministry official said.

The attacks began after hundreds of Christians took to the streets in Mosul and surrounding villages and towns, seeking greater representation on provincial councils, whose members will be chosen in the local elections.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.violence/index.html

[kenny blankenship]

1. Mosul - that used to be Gen. David Petraeus' beat dinnit?

Heckuva job you did there Petraeus, you asshat!

[nomorenomore08]

2. It's a horrible tragedy that'll be exploited to the fullest extent possible.

Right-wing American Christians have no problem casting themselves as part of a persecution narrative, even though their situation bears no resemblance whatsoever to the actual repression experienced by Christians in authoritarian societies, Muslim and otherwise.

[NeoTheo]

6. You betcha

Lest we forget how evil Islam is before the election. Of course our absolutely decimating that country to keep our economy going for a little longer had nothing to do with it and wasn't Tariq Aziz, a Saddam cabinet member a Christian?

[etherealtruth]

3. "Us Christians are persecuted"

I am guessing that the Iraqi Christians might just have a point at the moment ... My Christian Iraqi ex-patriot neighbors seem to be of the belief they were persecuted; I tend to believe them.

[NeoTheo]

7. Oh yeah, they are certainly ending up on the short end here.

But by the time the religious wacko spin doctors get done with it, it will be all about us not the Iraqis. If we had any concern about the Iraqis we would have left their country, paid them for the damage done as soon as we found out that our reason for invading them were all based on a pack of lies.

But then again, that's not really what it's about is it?

[elshiva]

8. Yes, Iraqi Christians ARE persecuted.

If American fundamentalist christians want to know what persecution is, this is it, folks. Actual lives are in danger if you don't convert to Islam. American fundies are NOT in danger of losing their lives for their religion.

[etherealtruth]

9. Exactly

.... and minimizing their plight (or the plight of women who have suffered horrific changes in status/condition)by voicing the primary concern that the religiously insane in the US may use this to their political advantage diminishes what these people are enduring (my initial response was to the OP and that IS what I take from it).

I have faith the entirety of DU believes that the invasion of Iraq was immoral and illegal ... and clearly we can see the cascade of events that led us to this. My concern is not that the religiously insane (and I do NOT consider all of the religious to be insane) may use this as propaganda ... my concern is with the people that are being persecuted ... not with the possibility of propaganda.

[elshiva]

10. Yes. It's persecution, whether it's used as propaganda or not.

eom.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. I just posted this from an Iraqi blogger in Mosul

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4220319

[etherealtruth]

5. Thanks for directing us to you post n/t