MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Baghdad (AsiaNews) – The year 2010 was the worst year to date for the Christian community in Iraq, it has been revealed by the organization for human rights in Iraq, Hammurabi. Many Christians were forced to leave the country in fear of killings and violence of all kinds. The death toll among Christians over the past seven years, according to Hammurabi exceeds 822 people. 629 of them were murdered for being part of the Christian minority. Others were involved in 126 attacks of various kinds and many others have been victims of military operations undertaken by U.S. and Iraqi forces. 13% of victims are women. Among the Christian victims of 2010 there are 33 children, 25 elderly and 14 religious. In 2010 Hammurabi recorded 92 cases of Christians killed and 47 wounded, 68 in Baghdad, 23 in Mosul and one in Erbil.

The director of Hammurabi, named after the Code of Hammurabi, one of the oldest known collections of laws in human history, William Warda, said that constant monitoring and documentation show that all the Christian Churches in Iraq – Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrians, Armenians – have suffered heavy losses in the number of their faithful, all over the country. The decline is particularly strong in Baghdad and Mosul, where Christians are concentrated in greater numbers. Warda said that in one year there were more than 90 Christians killed and 280 wounded, and two churches have been the target of attacks in Baghdad.” Read more.

Will the U.S. withdrawal sound a death knell for Iraq’s minorities? – “The campaign of violence against Iraq’s ethno-religious minorities sends a clear message: leave or die. Last October, an Al Qaeda linked terrorist faction held an entire Assyrian Catholic congregation hostage in Baghdad and executed priests and worshippers during Sunday mass. In response to these attacks and the international scrutiny that followed, a rightfully ashamed Prime Minister Maliki issued condolences and promised to protect religious minority groups. Yet, while this small gesture was important, it unfortunately has not tempered the level of violence that is sparking a mass exodus to Syria, Jordan and the West and a massive internal migration of thousands of Iraqi Christians. Despite Maliki’s promise of protection, local terrorist campaigns continue to make minority communities fear for their futures.” Read more.