Making it infinitely worse is the statement by Al-Qaeda in Iraq claiming responsibility. It has declared war on half a million Iraqi Christians because two Egyptian women, who supposedly converted from Coptic Christianity to Islam, are rumored to be held prisoner by Coptic monks somewhere in Egypt.
The story may or may not be true. The reality may well be more prosaic and connected to the fact that Coptic women get round their church’s ban on divorce by announcing they have converted to Islam and then reconvert (which is legal in Egypt) once they have secured a divorce. Whatever, the rumor is being stirred up by extremists for political gain. But it has nothing to do with Iraqi Catholics. Even if they and Egyptian Copts were one and the same — they are not — the reality is that people in Iraq have no control over what happens in Egypt and cannot be held responsible for it. To insist otherwise is no different from the twisted and bigoted thinking that demonizes all Saudis, all Arabs and Muslims, as terrorists because of the involvement of 17 of them in 9/11 attacks. That is repugnant and so is what Al-Qaeda claims in Iraq.
Alan Holdren (Catholic News Agency) quotes Mosul's Father Firas Benoka stating, "Everyone watches as Christians are killed and no one tries to put an end to these attacks. This, for me, indicates the constant will to eliminate Iraqi Christians definitevely. So we are mistaken if we think that the recent attack on Christians will be the last." The Republican's editorial board offers, "It's not a good development for Iraq, because many of the country's doctors and professionals are Christian. But what angers us most is the fact that the Islamic militants who prepared this attack -- reportedly a group linked to al-Qaida -- consider themselves martyrs. According to news accounts of the attack, one of the priests murdered in the attack, Taher Saadallah Boutros told his killers, 'kill me but let the worshippers go in peace.' Those were the words of a true martyr."
Of the latest waves of violence, The Economist points out:
The violence is still far less intense than it was three years ago.
But the security forces are plainly unable to stop the occasional big attack. Factionalism does not help, with branches of the forces loyal to different political leaders and ministries. Intelligence gathering, a crucial tool in counter-terrorism, is still patchy, because different branches are reluctant to share information with each other. American forces still share intelligence across the board, but have shifted many of their best people and units to Afghanistan.
In particular, the Sunnis are still underrepresented within the intelligence services. The Awakening Councils, drawn largely from Sunni former insurgents, whose recruitment by the American army was instrumental in lessening sectarian violence during the American military surge in 2007, have not been adequately incorporated into the Iraqi forces. As a result of the ensuing resentment, extremism may once again become more tolerated among Sunnis. Last year’s budget freeze after the fall in oil prices in 2008 has left little money for training forces in intelligence. A new budget cannot be passed until a government is in place.
In related news, Al Bawaba reports, "On Wednesday afternoon, November 3, the subordinate forces of Nouri al-Maliki, in a new move against Camp Ashraf, blocked the road leading to the camp’s cemetery and set up a check point searching vehicles and the residents visiting the cemetery. When the residents peacefully protested against this unjustified move, the Iraqi forces started insulting them and then beat them with cables, sticks and truncheons. One of the residents was wounded on his face during the attack and taken to hospital. Among the assailant forces, there was a man who spoke in Farsi and appeared to be a member of the terrorist Qods force. He was giving the instructions to the Iraqi forces and telling them that he was the commander in the field and tried to create a crisis. These forces said that the attack was ordered by Lieutenant Ahmad Hassan Khodheir of the Army’s Intelligence under Maliki’s command. He is a well-known agent of the Iranian regime whose affiliation to the regime has been exposed by the Iranian Resistance on number of occasions."
The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com, World Can't Wait, On The Wilder Side and NLG -- updated last night:
- Craig Robertson6 hours ago
- Elections, comics, Spiderman7 hours ago
- Richard Kim and other closeted losers7 hours ago
- The non-cake walk Party7 hours ago
- No woman she could find7 hours ago
- He could be a mechanic7 hours ago
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- Thankful7 hours ago
- He's oxygen deprived7 hours ago
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- Tweets on 2010-11-041 day ago
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Kawika Riley has been great at veterans outreach and will be sorely missed but congratulations to Riley on the new job:
To my Friends in the Veteran Community, Congress, Hawaii, the Media, and elsewhere –
As a few of you know by now, tomorrow will be my last day at the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Starting next week, I will join the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration as a spokesman at the national headquarters.
It has been an unforgettable privilege to spend four years working for America’s troops, veterans, and their families. Reflecting on my short time at the Committee, I am proud of the progress that has been made under the leadership of my boss, Senator and World War II veteran Daniel K. Akaka. If I may mention just three of the many improvements made during his years as Chairman:
· When Senator Akaka assumed the chairmanship in 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs had suffered years of underfunding. In response, Congress secured historic funding increases for veterans’ health care, then fixed the broken funding process that was responsible for decades of VA hospital appropriations delays.
· When Senator Akaka assumed the chairmanship in 2007, veterans fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan were coming home to a limited GI Bill designed for peacetime. In response, Congress passed the much more generous Post-9/11 GI Bill, which has already been used by hundreds of thousands of troops and veterans. Senator Akaka, who attended college on the original GI Bill, is still working to make additional improvements to this benefit.
· As Chairman, Senator Akaka brought the families of wounded warriors to Congress to hear directly from them on their challenges as caregivers. The result was a landmark law to provide training, certification, and support to the caregivers of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
It was an honor to play a small role as a part of Chairman Akaka’s team, as he labored to help veterans and their families. Thank you for working with me, and please keep in touch.
Effective Friday at the close of business, the Committee’s chief communications staffer will be Gina Drioane. Her email address is Gina_Drioane@vetaff.senate.gov. Please extend to her the same professionalism and patience you’ve shown me.
It has been a pleasure.
Best,
J. Kawika Riley
Communications Director and Legislative Assistant
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), Chairman
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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