By Baghdadhope
"There are no doubts, this is an attack aiming to make Christians disappear from Iraq."
These are the words with which Msgr. Philip Najim, Procurator of the Chaldean Church to the Holy See, described the series of attacks that yesterday hit 6 churches in Baghdad, causing two deaths and dozens of wounded according to the first unofficial reports.
In a statement issued to Baghdadhope Msgr. Najim said that "hitting the places of worship after the celebrations on Sunday afternoon proves that whoever is the culprit is someone who has no God, someone who does not respect the human being as a creature of God, the God of all religions."
Monsignor Najim, why? Why attacking the churches following the same pattern used other times as in the attack of August 1, 2004? Combined attacks on Sunday and after the functions?
"It is clear that these attacks are not related to episodes of resistance against an invader, but to a violent process aiming to slow the development of the country, its peace. They want a weak and underdeveloped Iraq that with the disappearance of its Christian component looses an important part of the society to which Christians always contributed by their knowledge and their stabilizing function."
Who wants such a weak Iraq?
"I repeat once again and I am sure. These are dark forces coming from outside the country. It is not the work of Iraqis. These forces, hitting the places of worship, attacked the religion itself, and not only the Christian one. They want to destroy the tolerance in the country bringing a climate of mutual suspicion and they also want to destroy the image of Iraq in international public opinion."
Is another flight of Christians from Baghdad expected as it was in 2004?
"Absolutely. It will begin very soon."
And where will they go? The international community will not be able or willing to accept them all, escaping to neighboring countries has shown over the years to be nothing but a flight toward the slow agony of waiting for a visa to the West that in most cases will never arrive. Maybe many will flee to Kurdistan .. "
"Maybe. In any case, the ideal solution is not Kurdistan. It's true, new villages have been built to accommodate the Christian refugees, but they are nothing more than houses in the middle of anything. There are no infrastructures - no schools, no hospitals, no economy - there was not an organic plan to welcome and integrate them. Iraqi Christians who lived their entire lives in the cities were suddenly turned into peasants without knowing that job."
And then? What would be the solution?
"In a democracy citizens must be protected by the state. The Iraqi Christian is vulnerable because it is not protected. We don't need other empty promises by the government that is unable to guarantee the security without which democracy is just a beautiful word. And this is applied to all ethnic and religious componentes of the country."
Monsignor Najim, the premise that the government has a duty to protect all its citizens is right. The events of recent weeks in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Tell Afar shows a serious flaw in the "system Iraq" but in this case, targeted and concerted attacks not attributable to suicide actions, against a now small minority what should the government do to make it feel less vulnerable?
"I recall that even as part of a minority the Iraqi Christians are in fact citizens of the country. At this point it is necessary for the government to create and make operational a system of intelligence capable of discovering the perpetrators of these criminal and inhuman acts and bring them to justice. Only in this way the Christian community, but in reality the Iraqi in general, will be aware of the government existance and will gain confidence in it. I repeat, there is no democracy without security."
The conviction of Monsignor Najim on the guilt of external forces in case of the attacks is not shared by all. According to a source of Baghdadhope who asked - for obvious reasons related to security - to maintain anonymity, another plot can be read.
As in the case of the terrorist attacks of 2004 that gave way to the flight of Christians to benefit from it would be the Kurdish Regional Government. (KRG) On June 24 the parliament of the KRG overwhelmingly approved the draft constitution that had to be approved by referendum on July 25 in conjunction with the parliamentary and presidential elections. A constitution that has found a fair contrast among the MPs of the central government who object the Kurdish attempts to annex some areas of still disputed areas among which there are some villages in the Nineveh Plain. The Kurdish constitution, for the disposal of the Independence High Electoral Commission will not be voted on by referendum on July 25, and the Kurdish parliament on July 9 agreed to postpone it to a date to be decided. Yet sooner or later the constitution will be approved.
According to the theory exposed to Baghdadhope if thousands of Christians should again flee to Kurdistan, and one day be called to approve or repeal the constitution, the gratitude toward who offered them hospitality in the moment of maximum danger could lead to the annexation of the disputed territory of the Nineveh Plain to Kurdistan. If it is true - as Msgr.Najim said- that life in Kurdistan is not a paradise, it might be equally true that among the Iraqi Christians called to vote not political but practical reasons related to their personal safety could prevail.
Not to mention that many Christians would again become cheap labour forces in the explosive economy of the 'other Iraq' as Kurdistan defines itsself, and that the Kurdish hospitality copuld "refresh" the image of Kurdistan as a land of tolerance and generosity, so precious towards the outside but undermined by accusations of disrespect for human rights, rampant corruption and absolutism.
