Rumor: Israel And Its Gas Fields Threatened As Damascus Fights For Life During Rebel Advance

07/17/2012 Leave a comment

“Syrian military forces were gathered in Tuesday, July 17, to save Damascus.

Tanks and armored vehicles were positioned in strength in the capital’s center and around government buildings. However, the noise and fury of battle in the Syrian capital Tuesday, July 17, were produced, debkafile’s military sources report, by six battalions of Bashar Assad’s loyal Allawite militia in clashes with the rebels who captured the two southern suburbs of Meidan and Tadmon Monday. They are trying to pound the enemy into extinction before its forces reach central Damascus.

The two beleaguered districts are home to a quarter of the capital’s 1.8 million inhabitants.

The Syrian general staff has withdrawn its command headquarters to a well-fortified complex on Shuhada Street in the capital’s center.

If Damascus falls and Assad is cornered, the entire region stands in peril of wider repercussions, because neither he nor Tehran will take defeat lying down.

debkafile’s military sources report their campaign will be paced and scaled according to the momentum of the Syrian rebels’ advance on Bashar Assad’s door-step, which could be drawn out and bloody.

On the Iranian-Hizballah list are Middle East oil installations as well as Israeli, US, Turkish, Saudi and Jordanian strategic targets.

Saturday, the Cypriot police captured a Hizballah terrorist before he could blow up an Israeli El Al flight and tourist buses in Limassol.

Tehran is feared to be focusing on the Mediterranean island as part of a plot to set Israel’s Mediterranean gas field Tamar on fire.” Read more.

The Olympic Spirit And The Islamic Spirit – A Race We Cannot Afford To Lose

07/17/2012 Leave a comment

Unfortunately, even the Olympic Games have today been ‘cursed‘ …

By Daniel Greenfield, FrontPageMag – “In a sign of the times, the London Summer Olympics will be defended by anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles… just as they were in Ancient Greece. G4S, the world’s largest security company, was to provide 12,000 security personnel, but has so far only managed to come up with 4,000. In another sign of the times, not all of their security personnel speak English. So instead the British government will be deploying 3,000 troops, all of whom hopefully do speak English.

This isn’t the first time that the Olympics have come to London. They came in 1908 when the likely threat was from the Hun. They would have come again in 1944, but war intervened, and London needed its anti-aircraft weapons to protect more vital targets. Instead the games had to be rescheduled to 1948 in a Summer Olympics known as the Austerity Games. Still despite the post-war conditions, the games were described as, ‘a warm flame of hope for a better understanding in the world which has burned so low.’

That flame seems rather cool now when London has to be ringed with anti-aircraft defenses, as in the days of the Blitz. Muslim terrorists showed the world what they thought of the Olympic Spirit in the Summer Olympics of 1972 with the Munich Massacre and ever since then the shadow of Muslim terror has darkened the flames of the torches.

Muslim terrorist threats have become a regular Olympic event. Russia is already claiming to have foiled Muslim terrorist attacks aimed at the 2014 Olympics. Even China got into the new Olympic spirit, foiling several attacks against the 2008 games. There is a sort of unity in every non-Muslim nation that hosts the games scrambling to deal with Muslim terrorist threats. A silent unity that no one will dare mention out loud.

Terrorism has become the true international sport and newspapers spend almost as much time forecasting the types of terrorist attacks that may be tried, as they do discussing the athletes. Will it be nerve gas this year? A drone attack? Or perhaps an old-fashioned suicide bombing.” Read more.

Gaza Christians Protest Forced Conversion To Islam

07/17/2012 Leave a comment
By Tzippe Barrow, CBN – “JERUSALEM, Israel — Christians in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are taking a public stand against forced conversion to Islam. In an unusual public demonstration, men and women gathered in front of the Church of Saint Porphyrius Monday to protest the abduction and forced conversion of members of their congregation. YNet reported that the newly converted Muslims, al-Amash, a 25-year-old man, and Hiba Abu Dawoud, 31, a mother with three children, are staying with a Muslim official for ‘protection’ from their Christian families, according to Gaza police. Forced conversion to Islam is not a new phenomenon in Gaza, but public protests by Christians are, Labib Nabanat, coordinator of the Israeli and Palestinian Bible Societies, told CBN News. ‘This is not the first time this has happened. In the past, there were cases involving women, whole families, and younger men,’ Nabanat said. ‘But there has never before been such a public protest by Christians, which means they’ve reach the point of terrible desperation.’ Generally, the pattern is the same. ‘There would be a sudden disappearance of the individual(s) for an extended period of time, with no news or no information about them,’ Nabanat said. ‘Then comes a sudden announcement that they’ve converted to Islam. Afterward, they may reappear with armed people around them as protection.’ Nabanat said there are two levels in Gaza: the political/legal/security level, which is not so bad, and the religious level, which is tough. ‘There’s no doubt that the general atmosphere on the street under the rule of an Islamist government has Christians feeling more and more under pressure. The rule of law is not against them, but the atmosphere — that’s a given — is,’ he said.” Read more.

Canada: Muslim Cleric Wants To Force All Women In Toronto To Wear Burkas, Head Scarves And Face Veils

07/17/2012 43 comments

But don’t worry, this enlightened Muslim cleric only wants all non-Muslim women to dress like Muslim women because he cares so much for their safety.  Indeed, nothing shows you care more for the inferior sex than blaming them for being sexually assaulted. Because they’re asking for it, right? Besides, if Muslim men are unable to control sexual temptation, then neither can all non-Muslim men, correct? After all, the prophet of Islam said it, so it has to be true. But here’s an idea: Instead of forcing all non-Muslim women to conform to a Muslim dress code, how about we just force all Muslim men to stay indoors? Wouldn’t women then be much, much safer? …

Recommended: See How The Prophecies Of The Bible Forewarned Us About Islamic Teachings 500 Years Before Mohammed

Qur’an Sura 4:34a, “Men have authority over women because [Allah] has made the one superior to the other …”

“The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Bukhari, 5096

“Allah’s Apostle [Muhammed] said ‘If there is any evil omen in anything, then it is in the woman, the horse and the house.’” – Hadith, Bukhari 4.111

“[Muhammad] said, ‘Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man? … This is the deficiency in her intelligence.’” – Hadith, Bukhari 6:301

Al Rod Al Anf, Volume 2, Page 182, “You see [Allah] will soon make you inherit their land, their treasures and make you sleep with [rape] their women.”

burqa1

The Treatment Of Women Under Islam

By Terry Davidson, Toronto Sun – “Canadian laws should be changed to require women to ‘cover themselves’ to prevent sexual assaults, says an Islamic street preacher in Toronto.

Al-Haashim Kamena Atangana, a 33-year-old Islamic convert, called for legal change in response to recent sex attacks at York University.

Atangana is connected with a group called Muslim Support Network and is one of a number of street-corner clerics commonly seen at the Yonge and Dundas Sts.

In an e-mail to the Toronto Sun, Atangana said ‘the reason … these sex attacks are continuously happening is because (of) Canadian laws, which give too much freedom to women’ when it comes to how they dress.

‘You should take your example from the way Muslim women dress,’ he wrote. ‘Why does (sic) Muslim women who wear long dress and covers her head aren’t targeted for sex attacks?’

The clash between western culture and values and the beliefs of some Muslim adherents has been a source of controversy and conflict across North America.

Atangana, who plans to distribute his views on paper in the coming weeks, went on to state that ‘the reason … a woman gets raped is because of the way she (dresses),’ and suggests that ‘Toronto (become) the first city in North America to introduce laws that would make it illegal for women to dress provocatively.’

If Toronto did this, Atangana said in an interview, other Canadian cities would follow suit.

‘If (women) want to prevent being sexually assaulted, they should cover themselves,’ said Atangana, adding that while he doesn’t expect Western women to dress as Muslim women do, they should have a ‘dress code’ and take note of the burka the head scarf and face veil some Muslim females wear.” Read more.

Flashback: Islamic Law: Women, Don’t Come To Mosque Unless You’re Ugly – “Apparently a full veil isn’t enough. Maybe the superior gender is temporarily granted x-ray vision the moment they enter a mosque. Remember, a Muslim man possesses twice the intelligence of a women, so don’t question this enlightened logic. Just do everything you can to look as ugly as possible. Think of it as a contest. Otherwise, you might cause another earthquake …” Read more.

Canada: City Of Toronto Bows To Allah, Allows Muslim Cab Drivers The Freedom To Discriminate Against Certain Passengers

07/17/2012 1 comment

Yes, if you have a dog, you’ll have difficulty getting a cab in the free city of Toronto. What will it be next? Will Muslim cab drivers be permitted to refuse someone who looks like or sounds like they could be Jewish? Or someone with an “offensive tattoo“? Or someone who wears a cross? Or a woman with alluring eyes who might cause them to sin? …

By Sue-Ann Levy, Toronto Sun – “TORONTO – Last Monday morning at 1:30 a.m. I came out of Pearson Airport with my dachsie Kishka in tow looking for a limo to drive us home.

Kishka, as is the requirement whenever I fly to and from my home in Florida, was comfortably zipped up in his soft kennel.

He was half-asleep at that hour — and so hidden away — that the first driver in line headed towards me to start loading my luggage.

It was when he grabbed Kishka’s kennel and realized a dog was in there that he turned around quickly and waved me away.

The second driver, also a visible minority, said ‘No’ the moment I approached him.

The second driver — who works for McIntosh Limousine — refused to give me a reason for refusing me or his name.

Thankfully, a third driver eventually pulled up. He had no issue transporting Kishka, who promptly fell asleep in his kennel the moment we hit the highway.

The fare plus tip to my midtown Toronto home was $65.

I hadn’t anticipated writing a column about this.

However after I posted my plight on Facebook later that day, I soon discovered I’d opened quite the can of worms.

What I realized is that this occurs quite often not only at the airport but in Toronto proper and is happening due to religious reasons — that is, because dogs are considered unclean in certain religions.

In fact, Gail Beck-Souter, general manager of Beck Taxi that operates about 900 cars in Toronto, confirms that if certain Muslims take a dog in their vehicle, they are required to go home and shower afterwards (before they pray).” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Cab Drivers Imposing Sharia Law In America, Refuse Passengers With Alcohol

US Judge Bows Down To Allah, Delays September 11 Case At Gitmo Due To Islamic ‘Holy’ Days

07/16/2012 Leave a comment

Here’s an update on the story of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four “deputies of death” demanding that non-Muslims bow down to the god that calls for the killing of non-Muslims. Looks like a U.S. military judge thought it was a great idea. After all, separation of “Church and State” doesn’t mean separation of “Mosque and State” …

“SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A U.S. military judge agreed Monday to postpone the next court hearings at the Guantanamo Bay prison for five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks to avoid a conflict with the Muslim holy period of Ramadan.

The judge issued a short order postponing the next pretrial hearings at the U.S. base in Cuba until Aug. 22-26 at the request of all five defendants, said James Connell, a lawyer for one of the accused.

The hearings had been scheduled to run from Aug. 8-12, which fall during the last 10 days of Ramadan, a period in which devout Muslims fast during the day and pray during the night. That would make it difficult for the accused to participate in their defense, said Connell, a lawyer for Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali.

‘It’s very difficult to pay attention to sometimes intricate legal proceedings when you haven’t had any sleep and you haven’t had any food,’ Connell said.

The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, denied a defense request not to hold any future hearings in the case on Fridays, a day on which many Muslims do not work and his order does not mention what will happen if future hearings fall during the month of Ramadan. The judge did not explain his decisions in the brief ruling.

Military prosecutors had opposed a defense motion to prohibit any hearings on Fridays or during Ramadan, saying to do so would eliminate about 20 percent of potential hearing dates from the calendar and make it difficult to schedule court sessions at the remote base.” Read more.

‘The New Killing Fields For Christians’: Islamists In Nigeria Burn Pastor’s Family To Death Along With 50 Church Members

07/16/2012 1 comment

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post – “Reports disclosed that over 100 people were killed by armed terrorists this past week, who went on a 12-village killing spree in Nigeria’s Plateau state. Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has once again taken responsibility for the assaults.

While different sources shared various reports of the numbers who lost their lives last week in the latest assault on Christians, which have been occurring on a weekly basis for many months in Nigeria, a story last week by the Baptist Press confirmed that about 50 members of the Church of Christ in Nigeria in the village of Maseh were burned alive after they took refuge in their pastor’s house following a terrorist raid.

‘Fifty of our church members were killed in the church building where they had fled to take refuge. They were killed alongside the wife of the pastor and children,’ said the Rev. Dachollom Datiri, vice president of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, in a July 11 interview.

Officials from the church confirmed that over 100 members were killed through various villages in Nigeria, which included Maseh, Ninchah, Kakkuruk, Kuzen, Negon, Pwabiduk, Kai, Ngyo, Kura Falls, Dogo, Kufang, and Ruk.

‘Nigeria is truly becoming the new killing field for Christians. Hundreds of Christians have already been brutally murdered – including women and children – by the Boko Haram,’ said Open Doors, USA spokesman Jerry Dykst. ‘The Boko Haram earlier this week said that all Christians need to turn to Islam or ‘they would never know peace again.’ Their goal is make all of Nigeria a country run and dominated by Shariah law.'” Read more.

Flashback: Nigeria: ‘Proud Soldiers Of Allah’ Vows To Take Down Government And Destroy Christianity, ‘We Will Devour You … Our Joy Is To Die In Jihad’ – “Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has threatened to bring down the Federal Government led by President Goodluck Jonathan within three months. Purported leader of the sect said this in his second video posted on the Internet yesterday… ‘You, Jonathan, cannot stop us; instead we will devour you in the three months like you are boasting … We are proud soldiers of Allah; we will never give up as we fight the infidels. We will emerge as winners … we will finish you and end your government … for us, [death] is eternal victory to die working for Allah. Our joy is to die in Jihad for Allah … We are not doing physical human service, but Allah’s work … We are not afraid because we are not doing man’s work but Allah’s work…” Read more.

Iran: Islamic Republic Refusing Business License For Convert To Christianity, Orders Businesses Not To Employ Christians

07/16/2012 Leave a comment

Revelation 13:17, “… no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

BosNewsLife – “TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife)– Iranian authorities refuse to allow a young man to start his own company because he converted to Christianity and was previously detained on charges of ‘apostasy’, or ‘abandoning Islam’, Iranian Christians said Saturday, July 14.

The Iranian Christian, who was not identified, had reportedly been trying to obtain a business license for ‘a technical company’ in northern Iran.

However he did not receive the required clean criminal background report from Iranian police because he was jailed two and half years ago on charges of converting to Christianity and attending house church services, said Mohabat News, a news agency of Iranian Christians and activists.

It came as a setback for the man, who was reportedly released on bail, and had hoped to restart his life with his company.

‘After he submitted his application, completed all the paper work and was fingerprinted’, police sent a letter to the Revolutionary and Public Court of his northern city claiming he had ‘a criminal record’ and was an ‘apostate’, Mohabat News reported…

‘The subject person is accused of apostasy and has a criminal record accordingly!’, the May 26, 2012, letter reportedly said.

Iranian Christians said the move is part if a wider government crackdown on non-Islamic minority groups, especially Christian converts, in society.

At least dozens of Christians are known to have been detained in the country.

Outside prison, government offices are reportedly ordered not to employ Christians and Christians have been deprived from high school or university education, or running their own schools, according to Iranians with close knowledge about the situation.” Read more.

Flashback: Christian Bishop in Egypt: Christians Are Currently Experiencing Their Worst Time in Recent Centuries, Many Now Unable to Buy or Sell – “Christians in Egypt are currently experiencing their worst time in recent centuries. This statement was made by the Coptic Orthodox Bishop Stephanos of Beba and Elfashn to the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Christians are being violently killed under the eyes of the international media… Problems are also experienced in day-to-day life because calls are often made in the media not to buy from Christian merchants or to sell anything to Christians. Businessmen are therefore faced with a struggle for economic survival. Christians are indirectly excluded from employment, for example by job advertisements specifying ‘a female employee with headscarf’.” Read more.

Flashback: Islamists Destroy Christian Businesses: ‘If Anyone Decides to Reopen His Store, We Will Kill Him’ – “… [T]he managers [of Christian businesses] have received threatening letters, which state that the exercise ‘will be blown up.’ The attacks are the result of a ‘campaign’ that targets ‘all that is contrary to Shariah,’ promoted by Islamists who want to radicalize the country. Unfortunately, the source adds, there is no ‘moderate movement’ capable of containing the fundamentalist drift.” Read more.

Report: The Number Of Armed Conflicts Increased Sharply In 2011

07/13/2012 Leave a comment

“Last year, the number of armed conflicts in the world increased markedly, with the strongest increase taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is the conclusion in a new report by researchers at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), published in the Journal of Peace Research. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has presented the statistics to the UN General Assembly in his report on international mediation.

The conflict data stems from the internationally recognized conflict data program at the University of Uppsala (UCDP). For almost 10 years, UCDP has published an annual conflict update in collaboration with the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and PRIOs Journal of Peace Research.

Following a year (2010) that signaled hope for a more peaceful development, the number of conflicts increased by nearly 20 percent, from 31 to 37. Last year’s jump in conflicts deviates from the long-term trend line, which shows that the world is gradually becoming more peaceful.

‘It should be pointed out, however, that even though we have now witnessed the largest increase between any two years since 1990, the number of conflicts is still far below the peak levels of the early 1990s,’ says Professor Peter Wallensteen, head of the UCDP. At the peak 53 armed conflicts were active.

2011 also saw an increase in the most severe conflicts. Six conflicts were categorized as wars, passing the level of at least 1,000 battle-related deaths. This is up from four in 2010. While the wars in Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, and Somalia have received much media attention, the intense conflicts in Sudan and Yemen have been less covered.

‘The increase in the category of the most deadly conflicts is disquieting,’ says Lotta Themnér, project leader at UCDP.

The growth in conflicts is not primarily a reflection of the Arab Spring. Only in Libya and Syria did the unrest develop into organized armed conflicts. The strongest growth has happened in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the shade of the Arab Spring events. Armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa have increased by 50 % in only one year, from 10 in 2010 to 15 in 2011. – This is a grave development for a region that desperately needs stability and development, says Helge Holtermann, PRIO researcher and Managing Editor of the Journal of Peace Research.

The partition of Sudan has caused new conflicts, while former conflicts in Nigeria and Senegal have reemerged. Adding to the bad news from 2011 is the fact that only one new peace agreement was signed. This is the lowest number since 1987.” Read more.

US Worried As Syria Begins Moving Sarin Nerve Agent, Mustard Gas And Cyanide Out of Storage

07/13/2012 Leave a comment

By Gil Ronen – “Syria has begun moving parts of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.

The country has vast undeclared stockpiles of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide, according to the report. American officials have different opinions regarding the logic behind the decision to move the chemical weapons out of storage.

‘Some U.S. officials fear Damascus intends to use the weapons against the rebels or civilians, potentially as part of a targeted ethnic cleansing campaign,’ writes the Journal. Others said strongman Bashar Assad ‘may be trying to safeguard the material from his opponents or to complicate Western powers’ efforts to track the weapons.’

Another opinion was that Assad is moving the weapons as a feint, ‘hoping the threat of a chemical attack could drive Sunnis thought to be sympathetic to the rebels from their homes.’ Yet another assessment is that the move is connecte with a plan Assad has, to create an enclave controlled and populated only by his Alawite minority sect.

‘This could set the precedent of WMD [weapons of mass destruction] being used under our watch,’ a U.S. official said. ‘This is incredibly dangerous to our national security.’

‘This is absolutely ridiculous and untrue,’ said Syria’s foreign ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, in response to the report. ‘If the U.S. is so well-informed, why can’t they help [U.N. envoy] Kofi Annan in stopping the flow of illegal weapons to Syria in order to end the violence and move towards the political solution?’

Officials said that if Assad uses chemical weapons, Western allies would probably go ahead with plans to intervene in the Syrian civil war more aggressively than they have until now and topple him from power.” Source – INN.

Israel Preparing for Action in Syria, Says Former Mossad Chief – “Former Mossad chief Danny Yatom said on Thursday that Israel is preparing for the possibility of military action in Syria, in case its chemical weapons were to end up in the hands of Hizbullah or other terrorist organizations in the region. Yatom spoke to the British Sky News, which reported that Israel is deeply concerned that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad may deliberately give Hizbullah chemical weapons or that they could end up in the hands of other terror groups In either case, this could lead to a regional war …” Read more.

Iran: Authorities Close Down Church Properties, Christians Threatened With ‘Severe Consequenes’ If They Try To Enter

07/13/2012 Leave a comment

By Joseph DeCaro – “TEHRAN, IRAN (Worthy News)– Both the Central Assembly of God Church in Tehran and its summer campsite have been closed by the Islamic authorities, according to the Farsi Christian News Network.

Officers of the Revolutionary Guards closed the Jennat-Abad Church along with its campsite, the ‘Garden of Sharon,’ once a popular site for Christian gatherings and conferences; eye witnesses’ reported a large notice posted on the gates warning of severe consequences should anyone try to enter the premises.

These latest closures follow the official termination of Friday Persian (Farsi) language services and the compulsory cancellation of all Bible classes as well as any distribution of Christian literature.

After the Iranian New Year celebrations, Islamic state security insisted that church leaders reveal the National ID numbers of their congregations, causing some to stop attending services.” Source – Worthy News.\

Flashback: ‘A New Wave Of Persecution’: Former Revolutionary Guard Member Describes The Crackdown On Christians In Iran – “According to the Daily Caller, the regime has ordered Iranian intelligence to infiltrate church groups in major Iranian cities. Agents are identifying pastors and other Christians, targeting them for arrest and torture in prison. Former member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Reza Kahlili, verified the crackdown. He said Iran’s ayatollahs are frustrated with the large number of Muslims who are now embracing Christianity …” Read more.

Iraq: Violence Forces Iraqi Christians To Flee Mosul

07/13/2012 Leave a comment

By SAHAR BADRAN – “Violence remains a fact of life in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, nine years after US forces deposed Saddam Hussein. While all sects have fallen victim to relentless bombing and shooting attacsk, members of the city’s once-numerous Christian community say they are being singled out.

Two waves of killings and intimidation in 2008 and 2010 sent Christians fleeing from Mosul in such haste that the United Nations had to arrange emergency assistance. Umm Ishwa, 50, abandoned the city for a safer village even earlier, and has stayed there since.

‘We left Mosul when my son, a doctor, was assassinated near his clinic in 2006,’ she told dpa. Mosul, 400 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, remains one of the most violent places in Iraq despite a government security campaign. The authorities admit they still have much to do.

‘Attacks targeting Christians in the city are still continuing, in addition to daily violence,’ says General Ahmad Mohammed al-Jabouri, director general of the Mosul police. ‘And that is despite the security measures that have been taken, which include deploying all kinds of security as well as a special intelligence effort.’

‘Between 2005 and 2011,’ al-Jabouri explained, ‘our operational command recorded the assassination of some 69 Christians, including university students, priests, female employees and housewives. The last attack targeting Christians was in March 2012 when armed men killed a Christian man, his wife and injured a four-year-old child.’

‘We are working to bring about a quiet life for the Christians,’ he adds.

Some 25,000 Christians lived in Mosul, which with a total population of almost 2 million is Iraq’s second-largest city. Many more live in the surrounding Nineveh province.” Read more.

Flashback: Iraq’s ‘Twilight of Christianity’: Fleeing Islamic Extremism, Exodus From North Signals Iraqi Christians’ Slow Decline – “Iraq’s dwindling Christians, driven from their homes by attacks and intimidation, are beginning to abandon the havens they had found in the country’s north, discouraged by unemployment and a creeping fear that the violence they had fled was catching up to them. Their quiet exodus to Turkey, Jordan, Europe and the United States is the latest chapter of a seemingly inexorable decline that many religious leaders say tolls the twilight of Christianity in a land where city skylines have long been marked by both minarets and church steeples. Recent assessments say that Iraq’s Christian population has now fallen by more than half since the 2003 American invasion, and with the military’s departure, some Christians say they lost a protector of last resort.” Read more.