Head of Christian Party Abducted in Iraq

[Sandpiper]

Head of Christian party abducted in Iraq-Arabiya TV

DUBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) Kidnappers have abducted the head of a Christian party in Iraq and are demanding the withdrawal of US troops, Al Arabiya television reported today.

The television's report, in a text during its regular programming, gave no further details.

Al Arabiya did not carry the report in its next news bulletin. A staffer reached by telephone said the television was checking the report with its correspondent in Baghdad.

<snip>

http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=25508

[Erika]

1. Iraq has been kicking Christians out regularly

since Hussein was captured. Hussein allowed them to worship freely. Many have run out of Iraq since Bush rolled in and allowed the voice of secularism to be silenced.

Just another happy day in Iraq after we liberated them.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

2. Wait, so it was BETTER for Christians under Saddam?

How do you figure that? Wasn't Saddam's religious freedom really an illusion? BTW, my prayers are with those suffering.

[regnaD kciN]

3. Actually, it was...

Although Iraqi Christians make up a small minority of the populace, they were encouraged by Hussein as a force for pluralism and against Islamic fundamentalism.

Now they stand to be among the biggest targets in the country as Islamic fundamentalism takes hold.

Of course, that matters little to God's Annointed Host in the White House. The majority of Iraqi Christians, after all, were Roman Catholic or Eastern or Oriental Orthodox...not real Born-Again, Bible-Believing Christians like we have here. Why, most of them haven't even heard of Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, let alone follow their every command!

:puke:

[othermeans]

8. It's strange isn't it? Guys like Sadaam and Tito kept their countries

from blowing up by holding the lid on the ethnic pressure cooker. Keeping all the various minorities sort of happy. But yet they were megalomaniacs driven by a desire for power. Hard to understand human psychology.

[PurityOfEssence]

17. No wonder that they got along so well, is it?

Their countries were cobbled together in the Versailles Treaty, and were an identical set of ethno-religious power blocs. Saddam sought out and got along very well with Tito; they had a lot in common.

It could be said that the forceful meddling of people from distant lands is what caused the troubles that beset the countries now as much as it did from their inceptions. It's Bushism writ large: pigheaded, simplistic know-it-alls who forcefully tamper with a system about which they know nothing. You could call it the philosophical through-line of this administration, non?

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

10. OK, so they had freedom of worship, but not much else.

I mean they had freedom to worship, but didn't have any other freedoms. Besides, I don't think it sat too well with most of the Christians in Iraq that their non-Christian brothers were being enslaved, as they were also enslaved. Saddam let them worship, but they had to do it enchained. Hell of a tradeoff.

[htuttle]

13. Well, the rest of what they had which they don't now was pretty important

I'm thinking of regular access to food, water, electricity and fuel, for example. They rarely worried about those things on a day-to-day basis under Saddam, and now it's all they have time to worry about.

Those things seem very important to most, judging from what I've read on the blogs.

[Ian David]

14. Iraq was more free than Kuwait, but had mass-murders

So, I suppose if you were a non-Sunni Iraqi, you had a choice:
1) Less freedom in many other Arab countries.
2) More freedom in Iraq, except you're more likely to be tortured and killed.

Interestingly, what we would consider a "lack of freedom" was actually more comfortable to many Muslims. For example, being indoctrinated since birth to believe women should wear Burkas, many of them (men and women) are more than happy to require women to wear Burkas.

In Iraq, women were allowed to drive cars. But not in Kuwait.

Just like many Americans are happy that the speed limit on their residential street is 25 MPH, and that we're required to wear clothing at the mall.

And many Christian Fundamentalists would be very happy if we were required to say The Lord's Prayer every morning in public schools, dancing was forbidden, and every business was closed on Sunday.

What we consider a repressive law, many people see as a comforting affirmation of their faith.

[Barrett808]

15. Under Saddam, women didn't have to cover up

Say what you will about the Ba'ath, but their iron-fisted rule was secular.

It's very difficult to defend the position that women in Iraq are better off now -- I found it chilling to see covered women lining up to vote for their own oppression.

[coffeenap]

16. I beg to differ--my friend had to escape at age 12

because her father was a Christian scholar. She and her sister went off to "summer camp" and never went back. Mom followed to "visit" and Dad escaped through Turkey with the ancient documents left in his keeping.

[VegasWolf]

4. GWB making the world a better place for all! n/t

[deadparrot]

5. Further proof of the success of the elections...

:eyes:

[NVMojo]

6. I don't believe most of what I am hearing out of Iraq these days ...

how do we really know who did the abducting? This is too convenient.

[Blower]

7. DARN IT, why couldn't they come here and abduct BILL FRIST? n/t

[VegasWolf]

9. Yea, or Sanitarium? n/t

[leftchick]

11. Head of Christian party abducted in Iraq-Arabiya TV

http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=25508

DUBAI, Feb 14 (Reuters) Kidnappers have abducted the head of a Christian party in Iraq and are demanding the withdrawal of US troops, Al Arabiya television reported today.

The television's report, in a text during its regular programming, gave no further details.

Al Arabiya did not carry the report in its next news bulletin. A staffer reached by telephone said the television was checking the report with its correspondent in Baghdad.

Christians form up to 3 percent of Iraq's 27 million people.

Several Christian churches have been attacked during the current insurgency against the U.S.-backed government.

[RebelOne]

12. Whatever happened to that doll hostage?

Did they behead it?