المسيحيين في الموصل نقول وداعا والمطران نونا: الدفاع عن المسلمين كنيسة من النهب في الموصل و18 12JUN14

لكل الحديث عن "الحرب" على المسيحية في الولايات المتحدة لا أستطيع أن أتخيل كيف سيكون أداؤهما المسيحيين الامريكيين اذا كانوا واجهوا الاضطهاد ومسيحيي العراق تواجهها. من  + السياسة الخارجية .....

الموصل المسيحيين نقول وداعا

استيلاء الجهاديين في شمال العراق هو كارثة للعراقيين. ولكن تدمير ثقافة المسيحية القديمة هي كارثة بالنسبة للعالم.

لقد تم قراءة العناوين من شمال العراق خلال الاسبوعين الماضيين مع شعور تكثيف بالرعب. إنه لشعور الكثير جدا مثل واحد لدي كلما قرأت عن اختفاء بعض الغطاء الجليدي في القطب الجنوبي ضخمة أو انقراض الأنواع النادرة بعد آخر من الحيوانات. انها شعور بأن أحد المقومات أكثر قيمة الحياة على الأرض على وشك أن تختفي، في جميع الاحتمالات، إلى الأبد.
و استيلاء الموصل، ثاني أكبر مدينة في العراق، من قبل القوات الجهادية لدولة العراق الإسلامية و آل الشام (ISIS ) هو كارثة لشعب العراق، الذي يواجه الآن احياء حرب طائفية شاملة، وكابوس الاستراتيجية والنفسية بالنسبة للولايات المتحدة، والتي ضحى كميات هائلة من الدم والمال للاطاحة بصدام حسين، وبناء حكومة قابلة للحياة - هذا الأخير، على ما يبدو، من دون جدوى.
ولكن على مدى الأيام القليلة الماضية لقد وجدت نفسي الحداد كارثة أكثر تحديدا: الرحلة وتشتيت آخر بقايا المجتمع العراقي مرة واحدة فخور المسيحيين . إميل شيمون نونا ، رئيس الأساقفة من الكاثوليك الكلدان في الموصل ، فقد قال وكالات الأنباء أن عددا قليلا من المسيحيين المتبقين في المدينة قبل الغزو ISIS قد تخلت عن المدينة.

منذ الأميركيين غزت العراق في عام 2003، وقال انه يقدر، تضاءل عدد المسيحيين في الموصل من 35،000 إلى حوالي 3،000.

منذ الأميركيين غزت العراق في عام 2003، وقال انه يقدر، تضاءل عدد المسيحيين في الموصل من 35،000 إلى حوالي 3،000. "، الآن لا يوجد أحد اليسار"، قال. وقد انضم معظمهم من ما يقدر ب 500،000 لاجئ فروا من التقدم ISIS؛ كثير من المسيحيين، بما في ذلك رئيس الأساقفة، قد اختارت الأمن النسبي في كردستان العراق. (الصورة أعلاه يظهر الفتيات يصلي في كنيسة مريم العذراء في برطلة، وهي بلدة إلى الشرق من الموصل.) وقد أثار نزوح، قبل كل شيء، من خلال سمعة الجهاديين لدماء - سمعة ISIS لديه وعي عززت من خلال الدعاية الخاصة بها. وقبل بضعة أيام، وتستخدم وسائل الاعلام الاجتماعية الجهاديين لتوزيع الصور دعم ادعائهم أنها قتلت 1،700 السجناء الشيعة التي اتخذت خلال هجومها السريع. لا عاجلا دخلت ISIS الموصل من بعض مقاتليهم أضرموا النار في كنيسة الأرمنية. كل هذا يبدو منسجما مع سجل الفريق قاتمة خلال الحرب الأهلية في سوريا، حيث، من بين أمور أخرى، فقد أحيت قيود القرون الوسطى الإسلامية على السكان المسيحيين. (انها خوفهم من المتمردين الاسلاميين التي تميل إلى محاذاة المجتمع المسيحي السوري مع النظام العلماني بشار الأسد.)
في عام 2003، أشارت التقديرات إلى أن نحو 1.5 مليون عراقي كانوا مسيحيين، وحوالي 5 في المئة من السكان. منذ ذلك الحين، وكان رد فعل الأغلبية الساحقة في توسيع الصراع الطائفي وسلسلة من الهجمات الإرهابية من خلال ترك البلاد. (سلفه المطران نونا، و بولص فرج رحو قد اختطف وقتل خارج منزله في الموصل الكنيسة مرة أخرى في عام 2008.) كلها تقريبا من مختلف الطوائف المسيحية العراقية - الكلدانيين (الذين هم جزء من الكنيسة الرومانية الكاثوليكية)، والأرمن، والسريانية الأرثوذكسي، والأرثوذكسية اليونانية - استفادت من كبير الوحدات المهاجرين في جميع أنحاء العالم الذين رحبوا اللاجئين من العراق.
أنا سعيد أن هؤلاء المؤمنين قد أنقذت نفسها وإيمانهم، ولكن يأتي هجرتهم بتكلفة - كما كانوا هم أنفسهم فقط على علم أيضا.

على مدى السنوات الماضية 2000، كان العراق موطنا لثقافة متميزة وحيوية من المسيحية الشرقية . الآن يبدو أن التاريخ الطوابق إلى أن يقترب من نهايته .

على مدى السنوات الماضية 2000، كان العراق موطنا لثقافة متميزة وحيوية من المسيحية الشرقية . الآن يبدو أن التاريخ الطوابق إلى أن اقتربت من نهايتها . حتى لو هي التي تحرك قوات ISIS في نهاية المطاف إلى الوراء، فإنه من الصعب أن نتصور أن مسيحيي الموصل الذين فروا سوف نرى مستقبلا لأنفسهم في العراق تهيمن عليه دكتاتورية الشيعية الحالية للرئيس الوزراء نوري المالكي، الذي يحظى بدعم قوي من إيران. مضيفا انه يستحق، ربما، أن المسيحيين ليسوا وحدهم في هذا المأزق. العراق هو أيضا موطن لعدد من الأقليات الدينية الأخرى للخطر بسبب الاستقطاب في البلاد إلى معسكرين المتحاربة الإسلام. و اليزيديين اتباع نظام الاعتقاد بأن لديه الكثير من القواسم المشتركة مع الدين الفارسي القديم الزرادشتية؛ حوالي نصف مليون منهم يعيشون في شمال العراق. و المندائيين ، الذين يبلغ عددهم 30،000 فقط أو نحو ذلك، وربما تكون مشاركة أتباع في العالم المتبقية من الغنوصية، واحدة من فروع المسيحية المبكرة. وحسب التقاليد العديد من المندائيين هي الصاغة - التجارة التي جعلت منها هدفا بارزا للاختطاف في الفوضى بعد الغزو للعراق. فقدان هذه الثقافات فريد يجعل من العالم مكانا أكثر فقرا.
وفي خريف عام 2003، عندما كان في مهمة في العراق، وكان لي فرصة للسفر الى الموصل. لقد كانت لحظة مصيرية للاحتلال الذي تقوده الولايات المتحدة، ثم بضعة أشهر فقط من العمر. قابلت الجنرال ديفيد بتريوس، قائد القوات الأمريكية في المدينة والمنطقة المحيطة بها. التمرد الذي اندلع كان بالفعل في الحياة في أجزاء أخرى من البلاد لم يكن سوى مجرد الوصول إلى الموصل؛ بينما كنت هناك، كان العديد من الجنود الأمريكيين لهجوم من قبل حشد غاضب وقتل - بشيرا سنوات طويلة من العنف في المستقبل.
لكنني سرعان ما اكتشفت أنه كان هناك الكثير لالموصل من العناوين. رحب مواطني الموصل التقيت لي مع الضيافة العفوية التي لم أكن قد شهدت حقا في العاصمة العراقية. هذا ربما كان ليفعل شيئا مع حقيقة أن بغداد، في قلب الدولة البعثي الوحشي صدام حسين، احتفظت شعور واضح قليلا من ماضيها التاريخي الغني. وكانت بغداد وsoullessness السوفياتي تقريبا - لن يكون بدا مساحات شاسعة من المساكن الجاهزة القبيح من مكان في وارسو أو بكين. الموصل، على النقيض من ذلك، لا تزال تحتفظ بطابعها كمدينة طريق التجارة العثمانية، ومكان كل من ضيع وحميمة. وكان انعشت من قبل شعور بالفخر من التنوع الخاصة بها: أنت لا تعرف أبدا ما إذا كان الشخص التالي كنت ذاهب للقاء سني أو شيعي، كردي أو مسيحي
والمسيحيين كانت رائعة خاصة - قبل كل شيء، لأنه كان من الصعب للهروب من الشعور بأنك تشهد ممارسة التقاليد كنت لن تجد في أي مكان آخر. بعض المسيحيين في الموصل لرد على روما؛ بعض اتباع البطاركة الأرثوذكس المختلفة؛ وبعضها، مثل أعضاء الكنيسة الشرقية القديمة ، هي بالفضل لأية سلطة ولكن خاصة بهم.

هناك مسيحيين في الموصل وحولها الذين ما زالوا يتحدثون الآرامية، لغة المسيح.

هناك مسيحيين في الموصل وحولها الذين ما زالوا يتحدثون الآرامية، لغة المسيح. وجدت نفسي الإعجاب الداخلية للكنيسة السريانية الأرثوذكسية مار توما (سانت توماس)، مضاءة ببراعة سلاسل طويلة من المصابيح الكهربائية. كانت الرعية فخور خصوصا من عرض كبيرة على الكتاب المقدس باللغة السريانية القديمة التي تزين الأسطح في أجزاء كثيرة من بناء الخط تفصيلا. (الكنيسة هي أيضا موطن لمجموعة من المخطوطات النادرة باللغة السريانية والكرشونية، وهي لهجة من اللغة العربية المستخدمة من قبل المسيحيين في القرون الوسطى.) لا أحد يعرف فعلا كيف القديم هو الكنيسة، لكنه يعود على الأقل إلى القرن 8. أنا أيضا بزيارة إلى كاتدرائية القديس بولس، مقر رئيس أساقفة المسيحيين الكلدان "، وهو بناء حجري متبلد الحس، التي بدت كما لو أنها يمكن أن تصمد أمام أي هجوم. وبعد ذلك بعام تم قصف من قبل المسلحين الجهاديين، وإلحاق أضرار بالغة في البنية.
لما يستحق، لا يبدو تاريخ المدينة الطويل من التعايش السلمي لتكون ماتت تماما. وقد المطران نونا وقال من المسلمين في الموصل التكاتف معا لحراسة الكنائس في المدينة من النهب، وتقارير أخرى من الموصل تشير إلى أن الإسلاميين يحاولون تهدئة مخاوف الأقليات الدينية في المدينة.
لكن المسيحيين في شمال العراق لا يمكن أن تلام لو انهم غير راغبين في البنك على هذه بصيص خافت من الأمل - سجل الجهاديين يتحدث ببلاغة جدا ضدهم. مرة أخرى في عام 2003، كان هناك القليل تعانيه من الكارثة التي كانت على وشك أن يصيب مسيحيي العراق. اليوم، يبدو أن هناك القليل الذي يمكن عمله لعكس ذلك.

صور كريم صاحب / أ ف ب / غيتي

رئيس الأساقفة نونا: الدفاع عن المسلمين كنيسة من النهب في الموصل

الموصل (وكالة فيدس) - "الآن في الموصل المسلحين الجهاديين السيطرة على المدينة والوضع هادئ ولكننا لا نعرف من هم وماذا يريدون القيام به الآن". يصف سعادة أمل شمعون نونا، رئيس اساقفة الكلدان في الموصل، لوكالة فيدس المناخ الذي يسود الآن في ثاني أكبر مدينة في العراق، والذي اعتقل قبل يومين من قبل الثوار لدولة العراق الإسلامية وبلاد الشام (ISIL)، والجهادية حركة نشطة أيضا في الصراع السوري. الكلدانية المطران يؤكد أن الغالبية العظمى من العائلات المسيحية 1،200 غادروا المدينة. هو نفسه وكهنته قد وجدت المأوى في القرى في سهل نينوى مثل Kramles وTilkif، على بعد بضعة عشرات من الكيلومترات من الموصل. في نفس الوقت، وتنفي الشائعات سعادة التاسع من الهجمات على الكنائس التي تديرها رجال ISIL. "لدينا كنيسة مكرسة للروح القدس"، رئيس أساقفة يشير إلى فيدس "، وdepradated من قبل عصابات من اللصوص امس واول من امس، في حين تم القبض على المدينة من قبل ISIL. لكن ودعا الأسر مسلم الذين يعيشون في المنطقة المحيطة بها متشددون اسلاميون، الذين تدخلوا، ووضع حد لعمليات السلب والنهب. العائلات مسلم نفسه اتصل هاتفيا بنا لإعلامنا أنهم هم أنفسهم والسيطرة على الكنيسة، ولن تسمح للبنات آوى في العودة ".
موقع بناء الكنيسة الأرمنية لا تزال تحت وشارك البناء في اشتباكات والتالفة فقط لأنه كان بجوار قاعدة للجيش لهجوم من قبل الجهاديين. بعد دخولهم في المدينة، والميليشيات الاسلامية إظهار نية للحفاظ على النظام العام تحت رقابة صارمة. رئيس الأساقفة نونا لا تؤكد ما تردد عن فرض المزعوم الحجاب الإسلامي على النساء المسيحيات التي أدلى بها الجهاديين ويشير إلى أن المسيحيين في الموصل، يحبس في منازلهم، ومعظمهم من كبار السن غير قادرين على الفرار بسبب سنهم والظروف الصحية . ويشير أيضا إلى أنه من بين مئات الآلاف من السكان الذين فروا من الموصل، فإن الغالبية العظمى من المسلمين.
المونسنيور. شكوك نونا في اعتبار يونة الذي أبداه الجيش العراقي وقوات الشرطة قبل وصول الإسلاميين: وقال "ما يمكنني قوله" المطران "، هو أن ما حدث هو ​​الغموض ومن غير المعروف كيف تمكنت قوات الجيش والشرطة. لمغادرة المدينة في أقل من ساعة، وترك الأسلحة ووسائل النقل. كل هذا يثير العديد من التساؤلات ".
الكنيسة الكلدانية في الموصل مخصص لالروح القدس هو المكان الذي قتل الأب رغيد كني مع ثلاثة شمامسة في 3 يونيو 2007 وأين المطران بولص فرج رحو، اختطف، الذي عثر على 13 مارس 2008 جثة هامدة. (GV) (وكالة فيدس 2014/12/06)

أخبار

• 2014/06/18 - الصلاة والصوم من أجل السلام. الكلدانية أساقفة الموصل: التدخل المسلح لا يحل المشاكل
• 2014/06/16 - والكلدانية البطريركية: يوم الصوم والصلاة من أجل السلام. وأكد المجمع الكنسي
• 2014/06/14 - الفوضى في العراق. قس كلداني: المسيحيين يخشون الآن الحرب الأهلية
• 2014/06/13 - الكاهن العراقي: المسلحون ليسوا جميعا "الإرهابيين"
• 2014/06/12 - رئيس الأساقفة نونا: الدفاع عن المسلمين كنيسة من النهب في الموصل
• 2014/06/11 دافع كركوك من قبل البيشمركة الكردية -. في الكنائس واحد يصلي: العنف بما فيه الكفاية والألم
• 2014/06/11 - بعد الموصل، والجهاديين من ISIL تهدف لكركوك. البطريرك ساكو: هناك حاجة إلى حكومة وحدة وطنية
• 2014/06/10 - ISIL المتمردين الاستيلاء على الموصل. المسيحيين الفرار الى سهل نينوى
• 2014/06/06 - المختصرات السياسية المسيحية استئناف المشروع من الإقليم المتمتع بالحكم الذاتي ل"سهل نينوى"
• 2014/06/05 - المسيحيين العراقيين على الحج إلى بيت إبراهيم، ودعا إلى المصالحة الوطنية

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السؤال من كريغ Schwanke في 15:59

Mosul's Christians Say Goodbye & Archbishop Nona: Muslims defend a church from depredations in Mosul 18&12JUN14

FOR all the talk about the "war" on Christianity in the U.S. I can't imagine how American Christians would fare if they faced the persecution Iraq's Christians are facing. From +Foreign Policy .....

Mosul's Christians Say Goodbye

The jihadist takeover of northern Iraq is a disaster for Iraqis. But the destruction of an ancient Christian culture is a disaster for the world.

I've been reading the headlines from northern Iraq over the past two weeks with an intensifying sense of dread. It's a feeling very much like the one I have whenever I read about the disappearance of some huge ice sheet in the Antarctic or the extinction of yet another rare species of animal. It's the feeling that one more valuable ingredient of life on Earth is about to vanish, in all likelihood, forever.
The takeover of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, by the jihadist troops of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is a catastrophe for the people of Iraq, who now face a revival of full-blown sectarian warfare, and a strategic and psychological nightmare for the United States, which sacrificed vast amounts of blood and treasure to topple Saddam Hussein and build a viable government -- the latter, it would seem, in vain.
But over the past few days I've found myself mourning a more specific disaster: the flight and dispersal of the last remnants of Iraq's once-proud community of Christians. Emil Shimoun Nona, the archbishop of the Chaldean Catholics of Mosul, has told news agencies that the few Christians remaining in the city prior to the ISIS invasion have abandoned the city.

Since the Americans invaded Iraq in 2003, he estimates, Mosul's Christian population dwindled from 35,000 to some 3,000.

Since the Americans invaded Iraq in 2003, he estimates, Mosul's Christian population dwindled from 35,000 to some 3,000. "Now there is no one left," he said. Most of them have joined the estimated 500,000 refugees who have fled the ISIS advance; many of the Christians, including the archbishop, have opted for the relative security of Iraqi Kurdistan. (The photo above shows girls praying in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Bartala, a town to the east of Mosul.) The exodus has been triggered, above all, by the jihadists' reputation for bloodlust -- a reputation that ISIS has consciously furthered through its own propaganda. A few days ago, the jihadists used social media to distribute photos supporting their claim that they had killed 1,700 Shiite prisoners taken during their rapid offensive. No sooner had ISIS entered Mosul than some of their fighters set fire to an Armenian church. This all seems consistent with the group's grim record during the civil war in Syria, where, among other things, it has revived medieval Islamic restrictions on Christian populations. (It's their fear of Islamist rebels that has tended to align the Syrian Christian community with the secular regime of Bashar al-Assad.)
In 2003, it was estimated that some 1.5 million Iraqis were Christians, about 5 percent of the population. Since then, the overwhelming majority has reacted to widening sectarian conflict and a series of terrorist attacks by leaving the country. (Archbishop Nona's predecessor, Paulos Faraj Rahho, was kidnapped and killed outside his Mosul church back in 2008.) Almost all of the various Iraqi Christian communities -- the Chaldeans (who are part of the Roman Catholic Church), the Armenians, the Syriac Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox -- have benefited from large émigré contingents around the world who have welcomed refugees from Iraq.
I'm glad that these believers have saved themselves and their faith, but their emigration comes at a cost -- as they themselves are only too aware.

For the past 2,000 years, Iraq has been home to a distinct and vibrant culture of Eastern Christianity. Now that storied history appears to be coming to an end.

For the past 2,000 years, Iraq has been home to a distinct and vibrant culture of Eastern Christianity. Now that storied history appears to be coming to an end. Even if the ISIS forces are ultimately driven back, it's hard to imagine that the Mosul Christians who have fled will see a future for themselves in an Iraq dominated by the current Shiite dictatorship of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which enjoys strong support from Iran. It's worth adding, perhaps, that Christians aren't the only ones in this predicament. Iraq is also home to a number of other religious minorities endangered by the country's polarization into two warring camps of Islam. The Yazidis follow a belief system that has a lot in common with the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism; about a half a million of them live in northern Iraq. The Mandaeans, numbering only 30,000 or so, are perhaps the world's last remaining adherents of Gnosticism, one of the offshoots of early Christianity. By tradition many Mandaeans are goldsmiths -- a trade that has made them prominent targets for abduction in the post-invasion anarchy of Iraq. Losing these unique cultures makes the world a poorer place.
In the fall of 2003, when I was on assignment in Iraq, I had a chance to travel to Mosul. It was a fateful moment for the U.S.-led occupation, then just a few months old. I interviewed Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of the American forces in the city and its surrounding region. The insurgency that had already flared into life in other parts of the country was only just reaching Mosul; while I was there, several American soldiers were attacked by an angry mob and killed -- a harbinger of long years of violence to come.
But I soon discovered that there was a lot more to Mosul than the headlines. The citizens of Mosul I met welcomed me with a spontaneous hospitality that I hadn't really experienced in the Iraqi capital. This may have had something to do with the fact that Baghdad, the heart of Saddam Hussein's brutal Baathist state, retained little palpable sense of its rich historical past. Baghdad had an almost Soviet soullessness -- the vast tracts of ugly prefab housing wouldn't have looked out of place in Warsaw or Beijing. Mosul, by contrast, still retained its character as an Ottoman trade route city, a place both scruffy and intimate. And it was enlivened by a proud sense of its own diversity: You never knew whether the next person you were going to meet was a Sunni or a Shiite, a Kurd or a Christian.
The Christians were especially fascinating -- above all, because it was hard to escape the sense that you were witnessing the practice of traditions you weren't going to find anywhere else. Some of Mosul's Christians answer to Rome; some follow various Orthodox patriarchs; and some, like the members of the Ancient Church of the East, are beholden to no authority but their own.

There are Christians in and around Mosul who still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ.

There are Christians in and around Mosul who still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ. I found myself admiring the interior of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Mar Toma (St. Thomas), brilliantly lit by long strings of light bulbs. The parishioners were especially proud of their big display Bible in the ancient tongue of Syriac, whose elaborate calligraphy adorned surfaces in many parts of the building. (The church is also home to a set of rare manuscripts in Syriac and Garshuni, a dialect of Arabic used by medieval Christians.) No one actually knows how old the church is, but it dates back at least to the 8th century. I also paid a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral, the seat of the Chaldean Christians' archbishop, a stolid stone building that looked as though it could withstand any attack. A year later it was bombed by jihadi insurgents, badly damaging the structure.
For what it's worth, the city's long history of peaceful coexistence doesn't seem to be completely dead. Archbishop Nona has told of Muslims in Mosul banding together to guard the city's churches from looting, and other reports from Mosul suggest that the Islamists are trying to assuage the fears of religious minorities in the city.
But the Christians of northern Iraq can hardly be blamed if they're unwilling to bank on these faint glimmers of hope -- the jihadists' record speaks too eloquently against them. Back in 2003, there was little inkling of the disaster that was about to befall Iraq's Christians. Today, there seems to be little that can be done to reverse it.

KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images

Archbishop Nona: Muslims defend a church from depredations in Mosul

Mosul (Agenzia Fides) - "Now in Mosul jihadist militants control the city and the situation is calm. But we do not know who they are and what they want to do now". His Excellency Amel Shamon Nona, Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, describes to Fides Agency the climate that now reigns in Iraq’s second largest city, which was captured two days ago by the rebels of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Jihadist faction also active in the Syrian conflict. The Chaldean Archbishop confirms that the vast majority of the 1,200 Christian families have left the city. He himself and his priests have found shelter in villages in the Nineveh Plain such as Kramles and Tilkif, a few tens of kilometers from Mosul. At the same time, His Excellency Ninth denies rumors of attacks on churches operated by men of the ISIL. "Our church dedicated to the Holy Spirit", the Archbishop refers to Fides, "was depradated by gangs of robbers yesterday and the day before yesterday, while the city was captured by the ISIL. But Muslim families living in the surrounding area have called their Islamist militants, who intervened, putting an end to the looting. The same Muslim families phoned us to let us know that they themselves are controlling the church, and will not allow the jackals to return".
The construction site of an Armenian church still under construction was involved in the clashes and damaged just because it was next to an army base attacked by jihadists. After their entry in the city, Islamist militias manifest the intention to maintain public order under strict control. Archbishop Nona does not confirm the rumors about the alleged imposition of the Islamic veil on Christian women made by the jihadists and points out that Christians in Mosul, locked up in their own homes, are mostly elderly unable to escape because of their age and health conditions. He also points out that, among the hundreds of thousands of residents who fled Mosul, the vast majority are Muslims.
Mgr. Nona’s doubts regard the pliancy shown by the Iraqi army and police forces before the arrival of the Islamists: "What I can say", said the Archbishop, "is that what has happened is a mystery. It is not known how soldiers and police managed to leave the city in less than an hour, leaving weapons and means of transport. All this raises many questions".
The Chaldean church in Mosul dedicated to the Holy Spirit is where Father Ragheed Ganni was killed along with three deacons on June 3, 2007 and where Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, was abducted, whose lifeless body was found on March 13, 2008. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 12/06/2014)

News

• 2014-06-18 - Prayer and fasting for peace. The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul: armed intervention does not solve problems
• 2014-06-16 - The Chaldean Patriarchate: day of fasting and prayer for peace. Synod confirmed
• 2014-06-14 - Chaos in Iraq. Chaldean Priest: Christians now fear Civil War
• 2014-06-13 - Iraqi priest: insurgents are not all "terrorists"
• 2014-06-12 - Archbishop Nona: Muslims defend a church from depredations in Mosul
• 2014-06-11 - Kirkuk defended by the Kurdish Peshmerga. In churches one prays: enough violence and pain
• 2014-06-11 - After Mosul, the jihadists of ISIL aim for Kirkuk. Patriarch Sako: a government of national unity is needed
• 2014-06-10 - ISIL rebels seize Mosul. Christians flee to the Nineveh Plain
• 2014-06-06 - Christian political acronyms relaunch the project of an autonomous province for the "Nineveh Plain"
• 2014-06-05 - Iraqi Christians on pilgrimage to the house of Abraham, calling for national reconciliation

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VIDEOS; Watch President Obama discuss the advance of ISIL in Iraq & Weighing U.S. options as Iraq spirals closer to war & Top Iraqi Shiite cleric pleads for armed resistance 13JUN14

IRAQ is disintegrating before our very eyes. PM maliki has brought this crisis on the nation through his political corruption, prejudice and discrimination. If Iraq had a democratic government and if Iraq's oil revenues had been used to improve the lives of all Iraqi citizens through economic development, education, job training and other government programs isis would have never achieved the military gains they have because the people would have had no reason to support them. The Iraqi Army would have been motivated to fight isis from the start because they would have had a nation worth fighting for. maliki has destroyed any chance of keeping Iraq united. The United States has spent enough of our military's blood and wasted enough tax dollars and is still paying the debt for our illegal and immoral Iraq war physically, morally and financially (thanks war criminals george w bush, dick cheney and the rest of your neo-con, neo-nazi administration). We must not get involved in Iraq again. No airstrikes, no shipments of weapons and ammo, and no asylum for any of the current Iraqi government officials. We do not need to become involved in another Iraq war. Tell your Senators and Representative and Pres Obama to stay out of this one and to concentrate on caring for our Iraqi (and all vets), not corrupt Iraqi Government officials. From +PBS NewsHour 

http://youtu.be/xuKsgn5bPcE 

Should U.S. wait for political progress in Iraq before making a military intervention?

June 13, 2014 at 6:10 PM EDT

President Obama said that he will not put U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq, but he is weighing other military options. He also pointed to problems within the Iraqi government and security forces. Judy Woodruff gets views on whether the U.S. should act in Iraq from Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor and retired Army Col. Peter Mansoor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYkA-awD2Og&feature=share&list=UU6ZFN9Tx6xh-skXCuRHCDpQ&index=2 

TRANSCRIPT

JUDY WOODRUFF: We take a closer look now at the military and the political options on the table.
Zalmay Khalilzad was U.S. ambassador to Iraq during the George W. Bush administration and was an advocate for invading that country in the first place. He now has his own consulting firm. Retired Army Colonel Peter Mansoor was the executive officer to the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, during the surge in 2007 and 2008. He also commanded an Army brigade in Iraq during early days of the war. He’s now an associate professor of military history at the Ohio State University. And retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor led Army forces when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 1991. He’s the author of a number of books about the military. And he has his own consulting company.

And we welcome all three of you to the program.Ambassador Khalilzad, let me start with you,.
What do you make of President Obama’s comments today that, yes, he is considering military action, but that appears that it’s going to be — if it happens, it’s contingent on Prime Minister Maliki making some serious political reforms?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq: I think the president’s objectives are exactly right.
This problem will not be resolved in a lasting way unless, besides military support by the United States and military efforts on the ground by others, Iraqis largely, it’s coupled with a political deal involving Iraqi communities.
And the situation has changed drastically after Mosul. Now not only there is a Sunni-Shia issue that has to be dealt with. That’s region-wide, but particularly focused on Iraq. The Kurds are also in a different place than they were before Mosul, so there’s a need for a new political compact among the Iraqis.
And I think the trick is for the president, how do you sequence U.S. military action with the political deal? Do you wait until a political deal is made or do you do some things while you also work on the political deal?
JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you see — Colonel Mansoor, do you see the president’s approach as one that you support, that makes sense to you?
COL. PETER MANSOOR (RET.), U.S. Army: I think it’s right on the mark, what I heard in that clip. You have got to get the politics and the policy right. And once you have an inclusive Iraqi government that doesn’t marginalize and alienate large segments of the population, then we can support them with military force, which we’re very good at doing.
But until it’s a government worth supporting, I don’t think we should support it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you mean?
COL. PETER MANSOOR: Well, if were to conduct airstrikes, for instance, and other actions in the current situation, we would simply be backing the Maliki government and taking sides in what’s shaping up to be a very bloody and brutal civil war.
If — the only way that we should get involved is if Iraq has a government that includes all sects and ethnicities and it’s a government that all Iraqis can sign up to support.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Colonel Macgregor, how do you see this? I mean, we’re hearing essentially support for the president’s approach; there has to be a serious shift before the U.S. would consider anything militarily.
COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR (RET.), U.S. Army: Well, I think that’s probably a valid idea, but I wouldn’t hold my breath while I waited for anything like that to emerge in Iraq.
Let’s be frank. We just watched as several battalions of this army that we spent billions of dollars building essentially broke and ran away from thugs in pickup trucks, Sunni Islamist fighters, many of whom have come to Syria, but that doesn’t bode well for the use of American military power to rush in and try to rescue this.
I don’t think it would change much on the ground. The second part, which I think Peter has just implied, we’re dealing with a Shiite, Arab, Islamist dictatorship in Baghdad that is anathema to the entire Sunni world in the Middle East, Arabs and Turks.
The Islamist fighters are working with the Sunni tribes to try and destroy the state. They backed by the Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and the Turks, who want to see this Shiite state go away. How do you resolve that kind of conflict?
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you’re saying — I hear you saying on several grounds that the U.S. has to be very careful and maybe shouldn’t intervene at all?
COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: I don’t think we should have anything to do with this fight. Both sides are dominated by people who are hostile to us, hostile to Christians, hostile to Jews, hostile to the United States, Israel and Europe.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What about that point, Ambassador Khalilzad, and his other point that when you have an army that is just basically melting away before these — these militants, what’s there for the U.S. to support?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD: Two points.
One, of course, we have a narrow national interest of our own with regard to terrorism. So to the extent to which we see this ISIL gain control of that area and nurture terrorists who will not only fight Maliki, but threaten the rest of the region, our interests, as the president said, we need to judge when and how to act. That’s one point.
Second, I would slightly differ from my colleague, which is, if the fall of Baghdad is imminent, I think our conditionality may come under pressure and we may have to act, because Baghdad falling into hands of the ISIL will have…
JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think that’s a real possibility?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD: If it is — and I don’t know the current intelligence, but you can’t dismiss it altogether.
If it isn’t, then I think we have time for this conditionality on the political track to work. I think Maliki is trying to avoid any conditionality. He wants assistance without conditions.
The other community leaders are saying, Maliki must go, a new government should be formed, and then the U.S. should get involved.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I want to — I want to — I do want to stick with the military point, but I also don’t want to lose the political question, and come back to you, Colonel Mansoor, on that.
Do you think Prime Minister Maliki is prepared to make the kinds of changes to reach out to Sunni interests and leadership in the country that the president was — President Obama was outlining?
COL. PETER MANSOOR: No.
Two points here. One, I don’t think Prime Minister Maliki will change the way he’s conducted business over his two terms in office. He’s highly authoritarian, and he’s proven to be highly sectarian and a divisive figure.
And I think we need, diplomatically, to work with all Iraqi parties and let them come to some sort of agreement on who should succeed him, because I really don’t think Iraq can remain a unitary state under his — his leadership.
The other point I would make is, the fall of Baghdad is not imminent. There’s only several thousands of these ISIL fighters. Baghdad swallows up entire brigades of the U.S. Army. It would swallow up any sort of ISIL offensive. And it would be a place where Shiite militias will fight for it, the army would fight for it. And, increasingly, we’re hearing that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are entering the conflict as well.
So Baghdad would swallow up any ISIL offensive. There’s no danger of Baghdad falling quickly.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, you’re saying that there’s — there’s some time here that the U.S. has before it has to make a decision?
COL. PETER MANSOOR: That’s precisely it. We should make the right decision, not the expedient, quick decision.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But given all this — I want to come back to you, Colonel Macgregor, on what and how — what — if the U.S. should go in, what and how it should do, given this very complex regional political situation that you just described a few minutes ago.
You’re saying under no circumstances the United States should get engaged, just stand back and watch what happens?
COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: You know, the Israelis have an interesting viewpoint.
Their view is that if your opponents are killing each other, absolutely do not interfere. And in my judgment, that’s what’s happening today on the ground in Iraq. And Iraq doesn’t really exist. You have a Shiite state, which is largely confined to the south, which is one of the reasons the Shiite Arab soldiers in the north ran away. It’s not their turf.
And then you have a Sunni Arab state that doesn’t exist yet, but it is coming into existence. And then you have a Kurdish state in the north. It’s increasingly aligned with Turkey, but is still independent.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Ambassador Khalilzad, why isn’t that an argument, for the U.S. just to be hands-off?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD: Well, if it doesn’t affect anything that was of great importance to us, that’s a great argument.
But, given the nature of particularly the ISIL, which is a terrorist organization tied with al-Qaida, with not only Iraqi ambitions, Syrian ambitions, regional ambitions, and with some foreigners from around Europe, even some Americans involved in them, we have a concern there that is legitimate, and we need to be focused on that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: An interest?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD: An interest there.
So, therefore, we could do pure counterterrorism operations, rather than siding between one side or the other. But I have to — want to make one point on diplomacy very quickly, that we may need to talk, to engage the Iranians. If we and the Iranians, where the Iraqis — Maliki is trying to play them against each other, then we could find a solution to get a new leadership for Iraq. And that may be also something that we have to consider.
JUDY WOODRUFF: It sounds like there are a lot of moving parts here.
Very quickly to you, Colonel Mansoor. What do you look for next here?
COL. PETER MANSOOR: Well, I think there will be a lot of diplomatic maneuvering. I think there will be a lot of maneuvering among the Iraqi political parties to see if they can get to the number of votes needed to unseat Maliki and establish a new government.
Meanwhile, I think ISIL will consolidate its gains and that it will press towards Baghdad, and the Kurds will continue to consolidate their control of the broader Kurdish region.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, no question we are all keeping a close eye on what’s going on. And we thank you, all three, for joining us.
Colonel Peter Mansoor, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, thank you.
ZALMAY KHALILZAD: Thank you.
COL. PETER MANSOOR: Thank you.

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Iraq’s top Shiite cleric pleads for armed resistance against Sunni insurgents

June 13, 2014 at 6:05 PM EDT

In Kirkuk, Iraq's army abandoned several vast military bases overnight, leaving behind their uniforms and vehicles and equipment they purposely destroyed before fleeing. Kurdish forces have seized the area instead, arming themselves to fight in hopes of establishing their own state. Jonathan Rugman of Independent Television News reports on the advance of the ISIL toward Baghdad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KYBkVP3Xg&list=UU6ZFN9Tx6xh-skXCuRHCDpQ&feature=share&index=7 

TRANSCRIPT

JUDY WOODRUFF: Iraq spiraled closer to all-out sectarian war today.  Sunni militants of a group called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant marched toward Baghdad, while Iraq’s senior-most Shiite cleric pleaded for armed resistance against the insurgents.Meanwhile, Kurds consolidated their position in Northern Iraq.
That’s where Jonathan Rugman of Independent Television News begins our coverage.
JONATHAN RUGMAN, ITN: Under heavy guard, we headed into the city of Kirkuk.  These oil and gas fields are just a few miles from the ISIS front line.
This is the first of several vast military bases in Kirkuk which Iraq’s army abandoned overnight. Iraq’s 12th Division clearly left in a hurry, even abandoning their uniforms, so they could disappear into the crowd.
America spent some $25 billion equipping Iraq’s armed forces. But look at how much has been destroyed here within the space of a few hours. This armored vehicle was given to the Iraqi armed forces by the Americans. But the soldiers who were in charge of it appear to have destroyed it before fleeing in the face of the radical Islamist advance, just a snapshot of the kind of chaos which is happening all over Central Iraq now, a country in danger of collapsing as a state.
Kurdish fighters have taken control here, they say to keep the jihadists out. And we could hear gunfire nearby. Weapons are being traded on the street, as Kurds prepare to defend themselves from their Arab neighbors, the clear intent here to turn this part of Iraq into a Kurdish state.
MAN: We can’t live with Arab. They are — should believe in that is Kurdistan, and they are living in our land.
JONATHAN RUGMAN: These fighters from ISIS want a state as well, with Baghdad as their capital. And, today, footage emerged of this army of jihadists regulars moving closer to the city, with holy war in mind.
They have captured heavy weapons. These were filmed leaving the city of Mosul in the north. Today, the first visual evidence emerged of Shia insurgents fighting back. These are volunteers from the so called League of the Righteous. And with Iraq’s most senior cleric promising martyrdom to all those killed, the scene has been set for intense sectarian violence.
But in Karbala, one of Shia Islam’s holiest cities, there was cheering and shouting, as Iraq’s seemingly embattled majority announced it was preparing to defend itself, the grand ayatollah here sending out a messenger to deliver this urgent call to arms.
SHEIK ABDUL-MAHDI AL-KARBALAI, Representative for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (through interpreter): We call on all citizens who can carry weapons and fight the terrorists in defense of the country, its people and its holy sites to volunteer and join the security forces to fulfill this sacred goal.
JONATHAN RUGMAN: And these are those Iraqi security forces defending Shia shrines in the city of Samarra, as the men from ISIS continue their advance.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And what’s happening in Iraq poses challenges and potential threats to the United States.
Earlier today, President Obama addressed the situation, speaking from the South Lawn of the White House.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: In the face of a terrorist offensive, Iraqi security forces have proven unable to defend a number of cities, which has allowed the terrorists to overrun a part of Iraq’s territory. And this poses a danger to Iraq and its people. And given the nature of these terrorists, it could pose a threat eventually to American interests as well.
We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces.
We’re also going to pursue intensive diplomacy throughout this period both inside of Iraq and across the region, because there’s never going to be stability in Iraq or the broader region unless there are political outcomes that allow people to resolve their differences peacefully without resorting to war or relying on the United States military.
Although events on the ground in Iraq have been happening very quickly, our ability to plan, whether it’s military action or work with the Iraqi government on some of these political issues, is going to take several days.
We want to make sure that we’ve gathered all the intelligence that’s necessary so that if, in fact, I do direct and order any actions there, that they’re targeted, they’re precise and they’re going to have an effect.
The United States has poured a lot of money into these Iraqi security forces, and we devoted a lot of training to Iraqi security forces. The fact that they are not willing to stand and fight, and defend their posts against admittedly hardened terrorists, but not terrorists who are overwhelming in numbers, indicates that there’s a problem with morale, there’s a problem in terms of commitment.
The United States is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the Iraqis that gives us some assurance that they’re prepared to work together. We’re not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which while, we’re there, we’re keeping a lid on things, and after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we’re not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country.

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Update: Iraqi Sit-in Movement Continues 22APR11

IRAQI'S continue to protest against the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq by the American government and the corrupt and immoral nouri al-maliki government.

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Iraqis continue protests against the US Occupation and Maliki’s government in Mosul

Two weeks ago, we reported that a national sit-in movement launched across Iraq.  The city of Mosul in northern Iraq seems to have become the epicenter of the continuing protests this week.

An estimated three hundred Iraqis initially set up tents in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to demand an end to the U.S. occupation, the release of political prisoners, rewriting of the constitution, and the departure of what they call the ‘Green Zone’ government, headed by Nouri al-Maliki.

                Protesters stand outside of tents for Mosul sit-ins.

Among the dozens of grassroots organizations calling for sit-ins in front of U.S. military bases, two of the most prominent taking part in Mosul are the Popular Movement to Save Iraq and The Free Iraqis of Mosul.  Contingents of Iraqis from as far south as Nasiriyah and al-Basra are at the Mosul sit-in being held in what has become known as ‘Prisoner’s Square.’  The calls for nation-wide demonstrations in Iraq comes in the wake of high-ranking U.S. politicians including Senator Kerry, Vice President Biden, and most recently Secretary Gates all implying that U.S. forces may stay past the December 2011 deadline.

Last week, Iraqi Facebook pages administered directly by protest organizers reported that government security forces encircled their camp, surveiled and taunted them, and called on them to end their sit-in.  Protesters also reported that a low-flying American military helicopter swept towards the demonstrators, in what was interpreted as an attempt to intimidate them.  Their response, captured in the video below, was to throw dozens of shoes towards the helicopter, and has prompted them to ask for an investigation into why this military vehicle was sent towards them.

                   Iraqi protesters throw shoes at low-flying US helicopters.

Demonstrations have been joined by dozens of women, who are calling for the end of the U.S. occupation and the release of their sons and brothers who are held in both Iraqi and US prisons throughout Iraq.  This week tribal chieftains from nearby Anbar province joined the Mosul protests as well.

As of today, reports now estimate the growing crowds in Mosul to number in the thousands, comprised of many young people who were last seen marching toward the 4th bridge, where they were stopped by government troops preventing them from going to the square to join with other protesters.

Demonstrators are insistent on continuing their sit-in until all their demands are met, foremost of which are:

• Complete departure of the U.S. occupying forces.
• No extension of the security agreement between the Maliki government and the U.S.
• The release of innocent prisoners.

We will keep you informed of new developments in this growing Iraqi protest movement.
Thanks again to Ali Issa at War Resister's League for helping to compile this report.
In Solidarity,
Iraq Veterans Against the War