Constant Scholars

I saw a piece on 60 Minutes about Christians in Iraq.  Before the war there were over one million Christians practicing openly in Iraq without being bothered because Saddam Hussien allowed for religious freedom.  That meant that women could drive, work, go to school, etc…  Since the beginning of the US occupation of Iraq the Christian population has dwindled significantly.  A young man in the story told of how his family split their time at mass so that if the church was bombed, only half of them would die. The Christians who survived the initial religious persecution by the Islamic Fundamentalists have mostly escaped to Syria.  All that are left are the women whose men have been killed, the very old, and children.  They practice their religion in secret.

My problem with this story was the spin.  60 Minutes detailed how the Christians were surviving in Iraq and how their lives had been better before the US invasion, but glossed over the part where their slaughter was largely our fault.  It is true that had we not invaded, these people would still be living under the rule of Saddam Hussein, who had NO ties to Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda AND allowed his people some religious and social freedom that is wholly absent from the Iraq of today.  Now that is impossible.  The militants have made sure of that.  Good for us!