Christmas in Baghdad, Shamelessness on Fox News Sunday

[Stingo]

Iraq is celebrating Christmas and CNN is making it out like there never was such freedom before the US invaded, forgetting, perhaps, that Saddam did not persecute Christians. This is not an excuse for the US invasion, as it will be played, nor is it an excuse for the excesses defended by Dick Cheney on Fox News Sunday.

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2008/12/22/christmas-in-baghdad-shamelessness-on-fox-news-sunday/

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Saw a clip on my local news today

Couldn't help but notice the US soldiers standing guard in the background at the Christmas in Baghdad celebration.

[Stingo]

2. Well,

there's a War on Christmas, after all. gotta stay vigilant.

[LynnTheDem]

3. Christians leaving Basra despite decades of co-existence...

"From the tens of thousands of Christian families that used to live in Basra before 2003, only about five hundred remain in the southern city with their eyes on assistance coming from relatives living abroad," Sami Basheer, a Christian from Basra said.

Basra, a predominantly Shiite city in southern Iraq, once a secular city that dealt with people of all religious affiliation with tolerance, has since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 become a conservative society with Muslim extremists.
http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/24115

Christians Leaving Iraq
http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/08/08_503.html?welcome=true

Iraq Christian Assyrians flee to Syria
http://www.christiansofiraq.com/escape.html

More Iraqi Christians flee Mosul
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7671609.stm

Iraqi Christians flee gunmen for sanctuary of monastery
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/3883748/Iraqi-Christians-flee-gunmen-for-sanctuary-of-monastery.html

[Stingo]

4. Another shame for the Bushies

They will answer to their God.

[pnorman]

5. I'm TV-free, so I missed that news item (until right now)

I can't BELIEVE such arrant ignorance (that's giving them the benefit of the doubt)! Before the Bush, Cheney, & Halliburton "Liberation" of Iraq, the Christian community lived side by side with Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd communities with relative amity, and one of the Vice-Presidents of Iraq was a Christian! Customarily, they engaged in enterprises that were "dubious" to most Muslims (selling liquor, etc.). That's now liable to lead to death threats if not the real thing. A substantial portion have emigrated out, while the rest are keeping a low profile. I'm surprised that there was ANY public celebration of Christmas there!

pnorman

[Stingo]

6. Yes

There was even a thriving Jewish community in Iraq, which would likely be celebrating Hanukkah now.