Christians In Iraq Aren't Faring So Well
What's almost as bad as being an Iraqi Jew? Being an Iraqi Christian. Here's an excerpt from an interview with William J. Murray, the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition on Frontpage.com:

FP: Why are Muslims in Iraq engaging in violence against Christians?

Murray: The only truly safe place for Christians, Jews or any other religious minorities in the Middle East is a strictly enforced secular system. Mullahs preach hatred from the pulpit in all officially Islamic nations. Their calls for violence are also heard in semi-secular nations such as Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt. With a "holy book" that gives Muslim men the authority to seize the property and even wives of non-Muslim men, the message of the Mullahs is eagerly received, particularly in times of turmoil. In Iraq tens of thousands of Christian homes have been seized by Muslims with the approval of the Mullahs.

FP: Why were Christian militias the only ones disarmed immediately after the American invasion of Iraq?

Murray: Those of us who have questioned the State Department on the disarming of the Christian militias have received mixed answers. However, the favorite answer seems to be that allowing Christians to bear arms in Iraq would give the impression that the United States was leading a "Christian crusade," and thus it was better for our image to allow the slaughter of Christians.

FP: Why is the American position that Iraqi Christian refugees are not an American problem?

Murray: Our government, that is the Bush Administration, does not want the financial and moral obligations that come with the actual declaration of refugee status. As a result none of the refugees, Christian or otherwise, are considered refugees officially by our government. There has been a special effort to make sure that Christians who have fled Iraq are not given any priority treatment despite the fact that they represented a far larger percentage of those who fled compared to their actual percentage of the population.

FP: Why does the State Department under Condi Rice deny that persecution exists?

Murray: Condi Rice values good relations with Islamic dictatorships who are the worst offenders of human rights in the world. Recognizing that Christians are persecuted in the Middle East would offend the corrupt royalty of Saudi Arabia and make our relations with other dictatorships we rely on for oil more difficult. In other words the lives of the Christians in the Middle East are of less value to Condi Rice than the flow of capital to the markets in the US.

...FP: What can be done?

Murray: The Iraqi war is our war, we own it and the refugees are our responsibility, not that of the United Nations. The State Department should stop playing down numbers and start living up to responsibility.

FP: And what does living up to responsibility entail?

Murray: A lot of money being spent to undo the damage would be the solution. Since our government borrows huge amounts from the Chinese and Saudis, this becomes awkward, particularly in the current financial environment. Within the past few weeks the Bush Administration has risked tens of billions of tax payer dollars to bail out foreign debt holders. Yes ... you read that right; the bail out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paid off the foreign debt holders while leaving American stock holders with nothing. Our treasury secretary actually called the Japanese, Chinese and Saudi investors to personally tell them their investments in our banking system would be protected.

Please note that I don't agree with this coalition's platform -- anti-gay marriage and anti-choice for abortion -- but I sure can't get behind letting a bunch of Christians be slaughtered in Iraq, and neither can they.

More on Iraqi Christians here.