Christians in Iraq have never expected a white Christmas, but this year there will be no Christmas. Church leaders in Baghdad have called off midnight Mass and an appearance by Santa Claus in the wake of a deadly attack on a Baghdad church. On Tuesday, al-Qaida issued new threats to Iraq's Christians, and church leaders encouraged their congregations to forgo holiday decorations or any other form of Christmas celebration. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, there were 1.4 million Christians in the country; since then, the number has dwindled to 400,000. ~ The Slatest
The sad result of an imperialistic and "crusader" policy of the Bush Administration. Christians have been present and generally safe in Iraq almost since the time of Christ. They are the casualties of people who fail to see the consequences of interferring in complex cultures we can't possibly totally understand. We have turned the tide against Sunnies and given the more Theocratic Shiites the advantage. Secularism, which was strong in Iraq was destroyed by an ignorant man who had "issues" and no notion of history put into power by neo-colonialists who failed to understand that empire is the last thing America should be striving for. They radicalized Iraq and the world in eight short years and we will spend the rest of this century trying to undo the damage. ~ Paul Webster, Washington Post?
