Pope Calls for Christian-Muslim Good Will
in Memory of Slain Iraqi Archbishop;
4 US Troops Killed
This Easter is an especially sad one for Iraq's Chaldean Christians. Their archbishop was kidnapped and held for ransom, then killed by guerrillas. His captors had demanded that the Christians support demands that the US withdraw from Iraq and pay $3 mn. [Since Chaldeans are patriotic Iraqis, there was no reason to think they did not already support withdrawal of US troops.]
Nor was that the last of their problems, according to this article by Peter Lamprecht:
' Days after the body of a kidnapped archbishop was found buried in northern Iraq, fresh kidnappings and murders continue to haunt the country’s Christians this Passion Week.
“We have people threatened, people kidnapped, people killed – this is Holy Week,” Kirkuk’s Chaldean Archbishop Luis Sako said.
Danger in Mosul may be great enough to effectively cancel Easter in the city this year, one clergyman said.
“We could close our churches in Mosul to protect ourselves and say to everyone that we don’t accept the situation,” Dominican Father Najeeb Mikhail said. “Or we can hold all the celebrations, and maybe we will receive some bombs or attacks.”
Fr. Mikhail affirmed that Mosul’s Christian denominations planned to remain in the city despite the attacks.
His comments came yesterday, only hours before meeting with Mosul’s Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic bishops to decide how to help the city’s now leaderless Chaldean flock. Chaldean Archbishop Paulus Faraj Rahho, kidnapped last month while leaving a Mosul church, was found dead last Thursday (March 13), buried in a shallow grave. '
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a memorial mass for Archbishop Rahho last week. He said then, ""Let his example support all Iraqis of good will -- Christians and Muslims -- to work for a peaceful coexistence, founded on human brotherhood and reciprocal respect . . ."
Surely that is the way Archbishop Rahho would have wanted his death to be commemorated, by increased Christian-Muslim understanding.
AFP notes that Pope Benedict seemed profoundly upset by the archbishop's killing, and in his Palm Sunday sermon last Sunday at St. Peter's Square said:
"Enough with the slaughter. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq!"
Someone should put it to music and sing it at peace rallies.
The press says there was applause. There is certainly applause from me. The Catholic Church was among the few major institutions in the world to come forthrightly out against the Iraq War on principle.
There were about 800,000 Christians in Iraq in 2002, and it is widely thought that about half have been forced to flee the country, mainly to Syria and Lebanon.
The deaths of 4 US troops were announced on Saturday. One was killed on Friday, and three more were struck by a roadside bomb on Saturday.
You contrast the concerns of the Iraqi Christians, with just staying alive this Easter or finding enough food to eat or avoiding being kidnapped, with those of Americans in southern California. Many are struggling to avoid losing their homes; for some it is too late, and they just have to be grateful for their new small apartments. Then this brought me up short:
' Former Marine Cpl. Gustavo Aguilar Jr., a two-tour veteran of the Iraq war who was profiled in the Daily News last week, also has something to be thankful for in tough times.
Aguilar had been laid off from a bakery-delivery job and feared losing his home. But after his story appeared in the Daily News, Aguilar immediately received several job offers.
He now likely will be able to avoid either foreclosure or having to sell his Sylmar town home.
"Despite all the hard times we've gone through, we never lost faith," Aguilar said. "If it can carry us through, it can do the same for the country." '
So if the Iraqis are being devastated by the war, and if the Americans who fought the war are losing their lives, or if alive are losing their jobs and barely avoiding being made homeless, who exactly is benefiting from the war?
Enough with the slaughter. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq.
Sing it.
Labels: Iraq
posted by Juan Cole @ 3/23/2008 01:35:00 AM
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12 Comments:
Small apartments, hell! They're living in tents!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnOOo6tRs8
The press says there was applause. There is certainly applause from me. The Catholic Church was among the few major institutions in the world to come forthrightly out against the Iraq War on principle
There are always applause after the pope speaks; I guess the crowd would applause anything. What he said is just not enough. This pope is much more conservative and pro-american than the previous one was. The preceeding polnish pape is the one who condemned the US invasion. The Italian and EU opinion was against the US invasion and still is. The actual pope would probably get even more applause is he had said clearly that the US should get out. This new pope just keeps his mouth shut concerning the misdees of the Americans. He should say clearly that they don't have anything to do in Iraq. The US invasion and the continual presence of the Americans in Iraq is clearly harming the Iraqi Christians and he missed the occasion to state it clearly.
"...who exactly is benefiting from the war?"
One need only watch "Iraq for Sale" to know it is Blackwater, Caci, KBR, Halliburton and other contractors benefitting from this war.
It is frightening realizing that these companies are reaping obscene profits from this war. Therefore, they have a financial interest in continual war. As long as war is profitable, there will be war.
I don't think a song will end the violence and hatred. This might:
The Americans leave completely, including the embassy and all civilians too. No more violence by or against the Americans.
The Kurds automatically go back to the mountains. It doesn't matter whether they declare independence or stay within Iraq, separation is achieved and both the Kurds and the rest of the Iraqi are happy. No violence.
Hakim and Badr go back to Iran. No more violence there either.
Allawi, Chalabi and the rest of the CIA whores vanish without a trace, if they are lucky.
The Islamists cannot recruit amy more, and leave or stay low. The local Salafis have been decimated already.
The Sadrists and Sunnis invite the secular professionals to form a nationalist government and civil service. It won't be perfect, but reconstruction starts in ernest, now the American Zionist can't block it any more, and the young angry men are kept off the streets to earn money doing productive work.
Still, a song won't hurt.
Al Jazeera have a go at the Iraq situation and the proposed status of forces agreement with General Myers and As'ad Anu Khalil guesting. The You-Tube is worth the watch.
Thank you, as always. We just have to leave Iraq and leave completely, but we will not. We have to leave, however. Five years I have wanted us to leave, and before that not to invade, but even Barack Obama apparently wants to leave lots of soldiers in Iraq.
How impossibly sad.
The Surge takes the day off. According to the NYT there were 51 Iraqi deaths today. And a bunch of rockets or mortars hit the Green Zone.
The US as usual put much of the blame on al Sadr's Shiites and Iran. (can't blame al Qaeda too much anymore since the "awakening" fellows were supposed to have routed them.)
Its seems like our end strategy in Irag has turned into a multi trillion dollar Catch 22. We're supporting the Green Zone central government which in turn is quite comfortable and friendly with Iran. But lots of Bushmen and Bushwomen would like to wipe Iran "off the face of the earth" (to paraphrase Mr A's misinterpreted comment about Israel).
We can't leave al Sadr in peace because he represents Iraqi nationalism and independence - an anathema to forging Iraq into a supplicant banana republic.
Since the Kurds could not hope to control an Arab country, it seems to boil down to morphing the Sunni "awakeners" into a force that can subdue the Iran friendly Shiites and the US unfriendly al Sadr followers (with a little help from air power). The free flowing bribery pipe between the US and the Sunnis should suffice to keep the mutual bonds in tact.
Of course, there is always the Iraqi Army. it should soon be the the strongest and best organized native force. A wink from the US would probably be all that is needed to stage a coup for all the right reasons - destroying what's left of al Qaeda, squelching Iranian influence, "terrorism" in genreral, and protecting the oil fields so they can be developed by friends of the American Enterprise Institute.
If McCain wins the presidency we'll have 100 years to figure all this out. I can't wait to get a hold of one of those McCain "What, Me Worry" bumper stickers. Not that Obama and Clinton seem ready to fall on their swords to get us out.
"Enough with the slaughter. Enough with the violence. Enough with the hatred in Iraq."
And your solution is?
Question: if the coalition forces withdrew from Iraq do you honestly think the slaughter and violence would go down?
Mr. Cole,
How dare our government not pay former Marine Cpl. Gustavo Aguilar Jr. a better wage! I'm outraged. He is a true hero. He should be richly rewarded for serving in Iraq and defending America. He is a brave man who has thanklessly dedicated his life to protecting our great democracy. Every patriotic American should be proud of the marines. I wish there were more people with his courage and dedication, willing to stand up and fight to bring freedom to Iraq. What does it take for a marine to get the respect that he so rightly deserves? I'm glad he has found the power of faith, as he suggests, perhaps we all should.
Mr. Rohan,
Yes, I honestly and most certainly think a withdrawal of "coalition forces" (your silliness is showing) would cause violence to go down. The Land between the Rivers have nurtured civilized society for more than 200 generations. The notion that the people of that region cannot do so now without our "help" is the most absurd proposition ever uttered, not to mention the most arrogant (the latter being a big part of the problem from Day One).
Furthermore, since it's a given that the presence of US troops is the best possible recruitment tool for terrorists, both Iraqi and foreign, it is simple common sense to expect the slaughter and violence to go down once we leave.
This land has survived invasion and conquest by Persians, Greeks, Romans, Mongols, Turks, and British. Now we have come, and in time, we will go, too. It's only a question of how much pain we will suffer before we do.
To Gregg Gordon,
So it's "silliness" for me to refer to the occupying force as "coalition forces"? Despite all the US-bashing on this site, if you did some reading you would realize that that while the US is by far the largest partner, it is not the only army in Iraq. At last count there are 25 other nations involved.
Maybe the Iraqis can make it without our help, but it's strange that many of the same people who firmly believe that Iraqis can go it alone, are also saying we need to send more aid to Africa and intervene in Darfur.
And since the vast majority of deaths in Iraq are caused by other Iraqis, I'm not really convinced that your "US troops as a recruiting tool" is much of a factor in reality.
Yes, John, I think it's silliness. Name me one of those 25 countries that would have its "army" (both soldiers of it) in Iraq if we weren't there, covering their costs. You're making the same mistake the administration has made for so long -- believing its own propaganda.
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