The Islamic State’s expulsion of Mosul’s ancient Christian population awoke the world to an ongoing genocide against Christians and other religious minorities in the region. Christians are essential pillars of Middle Eastern civilization. They are vital to the health of the region’s sociocultural ecosystem. They create conditions for pluralism, provide filters for de-radicalization, and maintain bridges between East and West. Continue to stand with them in solidarity. The eradication of Christianity from the Middle East would have catastrophic consequences for the entire world. The innocent Christians of Iraq face murderous religious zealots -- barbaric but tactically proficient transnational Sunni extremists who march under the black banner of death. These Islamist fanatics, some of them European and even American in origin, wield 21st century weaponry, including U.S. armaments seized from a disintegrating Iraqi army. After months of outrageous silence and inaction, President Obama’s targeted airstrikes against Islamic State artillery positions and military convoys, in addition to the humanitarian aid the Administration is airlifting to thousands of Yezidis who remain trapped atop Mount Sinjar, are important and commendable initial steps in preventing the extermination of Christians and other ancient faith communities in the Nineveh Plain. But the President’s actions must be leveraged into an international humanitarian intervention, one that empowers regional allies -- chief among them the Kurds -- in their existential martial contest with the Islamic State. The Islamic State is the embodiment of pure evil on earth, and it must be defeated. Hanging in the balance is the fate of Christianity in a vast span of territory stretching from Syria deep into Iraq -- not to mention the remaining stability of the Middle East and America’s national security. Like Syria, Iraq’s post-colonial borders are a geopolitical mirage. Foreign policy oriented toward fictitious nation states is doomed to meet frustration and will probably engineer counterproductive outcomes. Iraq, little more than a lawless territory torn between ethnic and religious factions, has undergone irrevocable Balkanization that Baghdad cannot save -- a possibly inevitable fracturing that America must finally recognize. To defeat the Islamic State, the United States and the international community must empower the Kurds and support other local political partners like the Jordanians. Recent Islamic State advances into Kurdish territory have jeopardized the defensive halo that the Peshmerga have maintained around Christian and other minority enclaves. Most recent reports indicate that the Kurds have begun reclaiming positions that Islamic State fighters seized earlier this week, but much more support is needed. Oil markets must be opened for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), so that the Kurdish economy can support a sustained, robust Peshmerga offensive against the Islamic State.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 23:29:23 +0000
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