Iraqi bishop receives letter: "There is no place for you infidel Christians among the Muslim believers in Iraq from now on. Otherwise, our swords will be legalized over your neck"

God is our witness
He who warns is excused
The General Secretariat of the Adherents of Islam Brigade

islam brigade= a gang of maybe one platoon in size yawn its the same b/s yawn

He who belches is not excused, unless he asks really sincerely.

There's really nothing for Iraqi Christians to worry about since Islam is so peaceful. I'm sure this letter in no way represents any kind of trend among Muslims when they gain power in an area.

It puts things into perspective, when you consider that Christians were far more tolerated under Saddam Hussein than they are now.

Get out. Take your kids and run. Nobody is gonna help you, because all our bitch-asses are busy appeasing or we can do nothing, and the Pope is playing the diplomat game.

He's already written you off for the greater good. Run, and may Saint Michael help get you out.

"It puts things into perspective, when you consider that Christians were far more tolerated under Saddam Hussein than they are now."

Christians were not immune from Saddam's capricious rule and his torture chambers.

One pacifist outfit came from the USA in 2002 to document Iraqi Christian opposition to the invasion as part of an anti-war propaganda piece; the leader of the group was shocked to find out that when the cameras were off and Saddam's agents were not within ear-shot, the Christians who had been previously interviewed pleading for peace were to a person desperately supportive of regime change.

Corneliusposted: the Christians who had been previously interviewed pleading for peace were to a person desperately supportive of regime change.

Do you think they may have changed their mind by now?

DP111,

It's honestly hard to say.

Certainly they are facing a naked terrorism that they never faced under the old regime. But they also have a degree of freedom like never before. Access to independent media, cell phones, and satellite dishes is no substitute for physical security, but these are not so easily taken for granted by those who were denied them for so long.

Furthermore, many Iraqi Christians have been offered and have received sanctuary in the Kurdish north, where their growing community seems to be flourishing.

I think it's a mixed bag.

Mohammed was a warner..........

I always wonder why Muslims think that warning someone you are going to kill them excuses the homicidal impulses that they have.

It would seem that Islam is just another cult which transforms good human beings into bad human beings.

Were Christians persecuted under Saddam by armed Islamic militants?

"He who warns is excused"

Is it a Koran directive?

I am confused about the Kurds. Cornelius mentions Iraqi Christians receiving santuary in the Kurdish north. Hugh speaks of them as a bulwark to be used against the more fanatic Muslims, should the US finally withdraw from the area.

However, I see the group issuing this ultimatum is 'a Kurdish Muslim group affiliated with al-Qaeda in Iraq'.

Truthfully, if they follow Muhammad, I can't imagine them being any more trustworthy than any other Muslim group. Any thoughts on that?

Vee -
It's hard to say.

The Kurds have always had a strong ethnic identity. I have read some Kurdish websites which claim that there were Kurdish Jews. I have read Michael Totten's column about how the U.S. is held in very high regard in Kurdish Iraq.

On the other hand, there are a number of honor killings in the west which have been traced to Kurds.

Still, I think it is in our interests to encourage an independent Kurdistan to irritate the Iranians (who are our enemies) and the Turks (who are pretending to be our friends).

Confusion to your enemies! Always a good sentiment!

Vee,

Ansar al Islam is a fundamentalist Kurdish group that existed before the US invasion of Iraq. They had - with Iranian help - carved out a small portion of Kurdistan on the Iranian border as their version of an "Islamic state"....often using Iranian ordinance to shell other Iraqi Kurdish groups.

Ansar had aspirations that were always at cross-purposes with those of the Kurdish Patriotic Union (Talibani's group) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (Barzani's group). The latter two groups quelled their own long-standing rivalry and have worked together to forge a dynamic and moderate autonomous region in the Kurdish north.

Ansar, though comprised of Kurds, was by contrast, more interested in a Talibanized Islam than with Kurdish autonomy.

...and the Pope is playing the diplomat game.

I am not sure what "game" you want him to play.

He has spoken to President Bush about this issue several times. He speaks publicly about the plight of Iraqu Christians in his general audience and with reporters. He brings it up in every conversation he has with various muslim leaders, and instructs the Cardinals and Bishops under him to do the same when speaking with muslim leaders.

He has no army to physically protecting the Iraqi Christians. Its unfortunate you have to smear his name. He is at the forefront of this, doing everything he can do within his power.

Thank you both, Tanstaafl & Cornelius. Way too much to have to research to understand everything going on in the world today, so thanks for helping out.

"the final warning to you and to all your adherents and flocks, the infidel Christian Crusaders, "

The Christians were there before the Moslems. They are not the descendants of the Crusaders, they are the remnant of the Christians who have survived 1300 years of dar al Islam.

Too bad we can't offer the Iraqi Christians asylum in our country, and bring the libraries and manuscripts from the dying monasteries with you.