It Is Time to Arm Iraq’s Christians

(AINA) — The sectarian violence in Iraq has a nameless victim: the Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs). Possessing a unique cultural, religious and linguistic identity, being ethnically distinct from others, speaking Aramaic, professing Christ, looking to Nineveh in the north — the Assyrians are the only indigenous people of Iraq, having lived in their ancestral lands in North Iraq since 5000 B.C.

Because of their uniqueness, and of their faith, Assyrians have lived under severe discrimination and persecution at the hands of Muslims for 14 centuries. Since 630 A.D. 33 genocides against Assyrians have been committed by Muslims — that’s one every 50 years on average. The latest and most significant one was in World War One, when Turks and their henchmen the Kurds slaughtered 750,000 Assyrians — 75% of the population.

Assyrians today commemorate their Memorial day on August 7 of every year, because on that day in 1933 the Iraqi army, under the leadership of Bakir Sidqi, a Kurd, killed 3000 men, women and children in the village of Simmele and its surroundings. This was one of the first acts of the new Iraq, having gained its independence from the British in 1932.

It continues in Iraq today:

• October 21, 2006: Ayad Tariq, a 14 year old Assyrian, boy is decapitated at his place of work
  
• October 12, 2006: Paul Alexander, an Assyrian priest, is decapitated in north Iraq
  
• October 9, 2006: a 14 year Assyrian old boy is crucified in his neighborhood in North Iraq
  
• September 25, 2006: Two Assyrian churches attacked in North Iraq in response to Pope’s speech
  
• September 24, 2006: St. Mary’s Cathedral in Baghdad, home of the Patriarch, is bombed
  
• January 29, 2006: Four Assyrian churches bombed in Baghdad
  
• November 29, 2005: Joseph Nabil Ishmael and George Brikha Youkhana are shot and killed in North Iraq
  
• September 23, 2005: 4 Assyrians Killed in Assassination Attempt on Former Iraq Assyrian Minister
  
• September 13, 2005: Anita Tyadors is brutally murdered by muslim extremists in North Iraq
  
• August 27, 2005: Nabil Akram Amona murdered By Kurdish militia in North Iraq
  
• March 24, 2005: Zahra Ashour (female student) is beaten to death by Mehdi army personnel in Basra
  
• December 21, 2004: Three Assyrian churches bombed in North Iraq
  
• December 7, 2004: Two Assyrian churches bombed in Baghdad
  
• November 8, 2004: Two Assyrian churches attacked in Baghdad
  
• October 16, 2004: Five Assyrian churches bombed in Baghdad
  
• August 26, 2004: Nabil Akram Ammona is gunned down by Kurds
  
• October 16, 2004: Five Assyrian churches are bombed
  
• June 7, 2004: Four Assyrians murdered in a drive by shooting in Baghdad

The Assyrians are defenseless against this violence. They are outnumbered and outgunned, but it was not always so. In previous times, when Assyrians were armed and controlled their own regions, they would stand up to Muslim aggression, even when outnumbered. The famed — or infamous — fighting prowess of the Assyrians is not exaggerated. Historically, Assyrians have held their own in battle even at ten-to-one odds.

A case in point is the Battle of Habbaniyya in May of 1941. An Assyrian contingent of 1200, part of the British Assyrian Levies of Iraq, engages a force of 12,000 regular and 5000 irregular Arab soldiers in Habbaniyya, 60 miles south of Baghdad. The Arabs were attempting to overthrow the King of Iraq, Faisal, and ally with Germany. The battle is a complete route, lasting only 30 minutes, and the Arab army is pursued by the Assyrians for 50 miles until it reaches 10 miles south of Baghdad (the present location of Baghdad International Airport). There the British Air Officer Commander, the famous General Glubb Pashah, commands the Assyrians to stop. They obey. Perhaps they should have continued and taken Baghdad then.

The present situation for the Assyrians in Iraq is precarious; it is a powder keg ready to explode into full scale genocide. The Arabs and Kurds know the Assyrians cannot effectively defend themselves. They are the only unsupported group in Iraq. The Kurds have the Americans behind them, the Shiite’s have the Iranians, the Sunni’s have Syria, The Turkomen have Turkey. Whom do the Assyrians have? Is the West supporting them? Is any Christian country supporting them?

Assyrians are now targeted with impunity, by Kurds, by Sunnis, by Shiites. These groups know the Assyrians cannot respond for fear unleashing a genocide which they would not be able to stop because they are unarmed. As Iraq appears ready to fall into the precipice of a civil war, if not already in one, the danger to the Assyrians reaches an alarming level. Who will defend the Assyrians in the chaos of a civil war? Is the US ready to accept the moral responsibility for genocide of Assyrians because it failed to adequately equip them to defend themselves?

It is time to arm the Assyrians.

But arming is not enough, it is also necessary to establish an Assyrian self-administered area, a safe-haven to which Assyrians from all parts of Iraq may seek refuge. This area will be under the rule of an Assyrian regional parliament, with an Assyrian militia protecting it. It can and should be a federal state within Iraq — what’s good for Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis is just as good for Assyrians.

When speaking of partitioning Iraq, it is not enough to suggest a tri-partite Iraq — where would that leave the Assyrians? If Iraq is partitioned, a fourth area must be set aside for Assyrians, and even a fifth for Turkomen, but they are not in the same danger as Assyrians, for they have Turkey as their protector.

Unless the US can absolutely guarantee the safety of Assyrians in case of a civil war or a break-up of Iraq, which is not likely or even possible given the dispersed Assyrian population, the US must undertake a program to establish an Assyrian administered area and to train and arm an Assyrian militia. If the US cannot defend Assyrians, then it should train and equip Assyrians to defend themselves. That is the least the US should do.

By Peter BetBasoo