Hat tip Jihad Watch
Here is one aspect of the fall of Iraq's second-largest city that you might not have heard about. The city's 35,000 Christians have fled for their lives. Jihad Watch has picked up this report from Vatican Radio.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/06/archbishop-says-mosul-has-been-emptied-of-christians-we-received-threats-all-the-faithful-have-fled-the-city
That's prudent. From what I can tell, just about EVERYONE who can is getting out, no matter what their faith. Only the Kurds can save them now. (They know what they're fighting for).
ReplyDeleteI just read an excellent comment at The American Conservative on what happened in Iraq. The U.S. put a great deal of effort, money, hours spent sipping gallons of tea, getting Sunni Arab community leaders to break with AQIM, and work with us. When Maliki's Shia tribal alliance won elections, we advised him to build on the foundation we had laid. He didn't. He brushed off the Sunni, leaving them open to cutting deals with ISIS. Now he is reaping what he has sown. This, incidentally, is one reason we should NOT accede to his requests to bomb the area. We might find it very useful to be able to step up at some point and say "Hi, we're the good guys who sat and sipped tea with you, and gave you money, when you were sick of those murderous AQIM thugs usurping your traditional leadership of the local community, not like that clod Maliki. Air strikes does not maintain that kind of good will. On the other hand,
perhaps it would be best to tacitly encourage Iran to kick some ISIS butt. It would probably be difficult to do both. Tough call.