MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

This story is finally making its way into a couple of media outlets, but still nowhere near the attention it deserves …

By Judson Berger – “A rash of attacks on Christian-owned businesses in northern Iraq has raised troubling questions about the future safety of the country’s shrinking Christian community, particularly as U.S. forces withdraw completely from the nation they’ve refereed since 2003.

The attacks, which have received little international attention, raged through northern cities following a sermon last Friday by a local mullah. Video purportedly from the riots posted online shows mobs burning and wrecking businesses, which included liquor stores, hotels and hair salons.

Yonadam Kanna, a Christian member of the Iraqi parliament and secretary-general of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, confirmed to FoxNews.com that dozens of shops — many Christian owned — were attacked across multiple cities.

‘The extremists prepared themselves to attack on more locations … but they were prevented by local police and security in addition to some guards from the villages,’ Kanna said in an email.

The incident underscored the perilous circumstance the country’s dwindling Christian population finds itself in, as U.S. forces withdraw and the surrounding region takes what could be an Islamist turn, if early results in the Egypt elections are any gauge.

‘The Iraqi Christians … are living in fear,’ said U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who is pushing for the creation of a special religious freedom envoy in the region. ‘Now with the forces leaving … I think the Iraqi Christians are going to go through a very, very difficult time.’

Urging the U.S. government to do more to draw attention to security concerns, Wolf said he ‘would not be surprised’ if Iraqi Christians continue to face these kinds of threats.

The latest attacks began in the northern city of Zakho, and spread to several other cities…

Juliana Taimoorazy, founder of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, said the Christians — who over the past decade have fled to surrounding countries to escape the violence — are faced with limited options today. She said they simply can’t go to Iran, Jordan can’t handle more refugees and Syria is no longer safe.

‘They don’t know what tomorrow or the next day will bring, but really there’s nowhere else to go,’ she said.

She questioned the security for Christians in northern Iraq, claiming the Kurdish regional government there did not initially intervene to stop the recent violence.

She also said it’s ‘disturbing’ the U.S. government has not spoken up on the latest attacks.

‘We’re on the verge of extinction,’ she said.” Read more.

Islamists in Iraq to Christians: ‘If Anyone Decides to Reopen His Store, We Will Kill Him’ – “The Islamist campaign against all things contrary to Sharia Law continues, and to drive home just how dead serious they are about preventing Christians in Zakho and elsewhere from buying and selling products, notes have been left for Christians informing them that if they reopen their stores, they will be killed …” Read more.