Christians 'emptied from Middle East'

[BlandOatmeal]

Katsung, you said,

They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq." He said, "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."

Sadly, that confirms what I saw of what we were doing then. What this has to do with Christians leaving the ME, though, is beyond me. I know that Bethlehem and Nazareth, which used to be Christian cities, have become Muslim cities, and these cities are well beyond the reach of either Washington or Baghdad. The Copts of Egypt are also being persecuted, and have been since the very first days of the "Arab Spring". This sounds more like a problem of harder-to-live-with Muslims, than with political conspiriacy.

Off to supper.

Shalom shalom

 

[LuminousPhoenix]

General Wesley Clark: Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years
General Wesley Clark:
Because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, "We're going to war with Iraq? Why?" He said, "I don't know." He said, "I guess they don't know what else to do." So I said, "Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?" He said, "No, no." He says, "There's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq." He said, "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."

So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it's worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" -- meaning the Secretary of Defense's office -- "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran." I said, "Is it classified?" He said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well, don't show it to me." And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, "You remember that?" He said, "Sir, I didn't show you that memo! I didn't show it to you!"

So all these were hoaxes. Arab spring, Libya regime change, Syria unrest….. all done by the CIA for the war plan of the US planned.

Wow, that's some pretty hardcore conspiracy theory stuff. But it comes from a reputable source, a retired general and a now politician. I searched around and have yet to find a rebuttal to the contents of that video. One would think such a serious claim on his part would invoke more of a response.

 

[BlandOatmeal]

It's tough being a Christian in a Muslim country. It's even tougher being pro-Israel:

‘We feel safe here’
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

11/28/2012 03:51

Pastor Umar Mulinde, who was attacked with acid in Uganda for supporting Israel, is receiving treatment at Sheba Medical Center.

Photo by: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Pastor Umar Mulinde’s love for Israel has only grown since he began treatment here for the burns he sustained in a horrific acid attack in his home country of Uganda on Christmas Eve last year.

“I really love being here in Jerusalem,” said Mulinde, wearing a mask to hide his burns.

“My family and I love Israel and feel safe here.”

In a wide-ranging interview on Monday with Steve Linde, The Jerusalem Post’s editor-in- chief and other staff at the newspaper, Mulinde explained his journey from being a Muslim to his conversion to Christianity and his untiring support for the Jewish state.

The pastor said he was attacked by a presumed Muslim terrorist in the east African country because of his outspoken sermons in favor of Israel, and his screening of pro-Israel films.

But the attack, which left him with severe burns and without an eye, had failed to sway him.

“There is a lot of biased information about this country [Israel] and a need to get balanced information,” said Mulinde, seated in the Post editorial lounge with his wife, Evelyn, and their two children.

Mulinde’s efforts to debunk prejudices against Jews and Israel had led him to arrange for a film presentation on Jerusalem.

He recalled that as he left the event in Kampala – the capital of Uganda – a man confronted him. He had felt “a splash of a very hot substance” on his head and managed to pivot away to avoid his entire face from being doused with acid.

The assailant screamed “Allahu Akbar” during the attack. Mulinde said at that moment, he realized that the assailant had been a Muslim terrorist.

Seriously disfigured by the acid, Mulinde has been receiving free treatment at the burn unit of Sheba Medical Center. His entire head is bandaged and one of his eyes is covered by an eye-patch.

Evelyn, his wife, described the family’s reaction to her husband being doused with acid.

“It was so traumatizing for me and the kids,” she said, remembering how they had cried, knelt down and prayed together.

Mulinde also delved into the period of Ugandan history under the notoriously anti- Israel president Ida Amin, whose military dictatorship reigned from 1971-79 and engaged in a blood-soaked repression against dissenters.

“Idi Amin declared Uganda an Islamic state and ushered in Shari’a law,” said Mulinde.

“Any country that practices Shari’a law will not have good relations with Israel. And less than 10 percent of the country was Muslim at the time.”

Uganda’s Christian population now comprises 84% of the country, with an estimated 12% Muslim.

Mulinde said he was born a Muslim in 1973, and his family rejected him when he converted to Christianity as a 20-year-old. He said he had experienced an Islam “filled with hate.”...

-- http://mobiletest.jpost.com/HomePage/FrontPage/Article.aspx?id=86293721&cat=1

 

[Gadarene]

The fact is that authoritarian rulers in the Middle East have protected Christians, albeit while engaging in other ruthless, brutal policies. When those regimes fall, the resulting chaos and mob rule does not bode well for any minority, Christian or not.

The Law if Unintended Consequences.

I keep seeing this statement being made, and I can't help but feel that many Christians actually are in favour of the old dictatorships (Christians here, at least).

I mean, the important thing is that the Christians are ok, yeah? And after all, can't trust them Muslims.

 

[LionofJudahDK]

And after all, can't trust them Muslims.

History, and "contemporarity" has shown this to be pretty much the truth. At least in the countries/areas of which we speak.

And yes: A dictator that protects the weak against those who would see them destroyed or ethnically cleansed, is better than someone who's democratically elected but tramples upon them.

The Kaiser was better than Hitler...do you not think so?

 

[cow451]

History, and "contemporarity" has shown this to be pretty much the truth. At least in the countries/areas of which we speak.

And yes: A dictator that protects the weak against those who would see them destroyed or ethnically cleansed, is better than someone who's democratically elected but tramples upon them.

The Kaiser was better than Hitler...do you not think so?

Depends on your politics.

 

[katsung47]

Pentagon got fat budget; Americans got hatred from Iraqis.

Iraqis cannot forget what Americans have done here’

By Global Research News
Global Research, December 01, 2012

I sat in on a lecture, given in English, to maybe fifty or more young men and women at a college in Ramadi.

Then a young man in the front row only a couple of feet from me said in a quiet voice “We have nothing to say. The last years have been only sad ones.” Again there was silence.

Sami, my host from Najaf and part of the Muslim Peacemaker Team, stood and shared. He told the story of how, after the U.S. bombing assaults on Fallujah, he and others came from the Shia cities of Najaf and Karbala, to carry out a symbolic act of cleaning up rubble and trash in the streets of Fallujah. This gesture, he said, melted hearts and healed some of the brokenness between Sunni and Shia. He
spoke of the delegation of peacemakers from the United States who were just in Najaf for twelve days, of the work to build bridges and seek reconciliation.

An impassioned young woman from the middle of the lecture hall spoke up. It was obviously not easy for her. “It is not,” she said, “about lack of water and electricity [something I had mentioned]. You have destroyed everything. You have destroyed our country. You have destroyed what is inside of us! You have destroyed our ancient civilization. You have taken our smiles from us. You have
taken our dreams!”

Someone asked, “Why did you this? What did we do to you that you would do this to us?”
“Iraqis cannot forget what Americans have done here,” said another. “They destroyed the childhood. You don’t destroy everything and then say ‘We’re sorry.’ “You don’t commit crimes and then say ‘Sorry.’”

“To bomb us and then send teams to do investigations on the effects of the bombs…No, it will not be forgotten. It is not written on our hearts, it is carved in our hearts.”

‘Iraqis cannot forget what Americans have done here’ | Global Research

 

[LionofJudahDK]

Depends on your politics.

I ask again:
The Kaiser was better than Hitler....do you not think so?

 

[Gadarene]

I ask again:
The Kaiser was better than Hitler....do you not think so?

The former arguably caused the latter.

I just find it amusing how quick people are to drop their democratic standards when it involves a group they don't like and are quick to generalise.

 

[cow451]

I ask again:
The Kaiser was better than Hitler....do you not think so?

That's like asking if liver failure is better than kidney failure.

 

[LionofJudahDK]

The former arguably caused the latter.

No, French vindictiveness and arrogance caused the latter. The old aristocracy loathed the nazis.

That's like asking if liver failure is better than kidney failure.

No, it's like asking if the common cold is better than AIDS. Democrazy is somewhere inbetween the two, albeit of course closer to the common cold than to AIDS.

 

[katsung47]

US and Zionist thugs murder people of Syria and claim that Syrian army "killed them"

US and Zionist thugs murder people of Syria and claim that Syrian army "killed them"

 

[katsung47]

Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities
Christian Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped and beheaded by rebel fighters in northern town of Ras Al-Ayn on the Turkish border
News came as pro-government forces celebrated their victory against rebels near Aleppo Airport

By Nick Fagge

PUBLISHED:19:41 EST, 30 December 2012

Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.

The nun said taxi driver Andrei Arbashe, 38, was kidnapped after his brother was heard complaining that fighters against the ruling regime behaved like bandits.

She said his headless corpse was found by the side of the road, surrounded by hungry dogs. He had recently married and was soon to be a father.

Read more: Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities | Mail Online

 

[I Eat Pie]

A lot of the Chriatians that left Syria were Armenians that fled to Syria during the Armenian genocide. They're not neseccarily being empties out. They're returning back to Armenia and the armenian government is acceptimg them back with open arms.

 

[katsung47]

Syrian Rebels Ransack Christian Churches

NATO-backed thugs desecrate places of worship

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Shocking images have emerged which show the aftermath of Christian churches ransacked by NATO-backed Syrian rebels, illustrating once again how western powers are supporting Muslim extremists in their bid to achieve regime change in the middle east.

http://static.prisonplanet.com/p/images/june2012/270612top.jpg

A photograph provided to us by a Christian woman in Homs, scene of some of the bloodiest clashes of the conflict, shows a member of the Free Syrian Army posing with a looted Catholic cross in one hand and a gun in the other while wearing a priest’s robe.

» Syrian Rebels Ransack Christian Churches Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

 

[Lilly Owl]

I think it's a mistake for the U.S. to even look toward Syria in matters of intervention.
When one's enemies are killing one another it weeds out the enemies that would later target others.

Now say it with me; Religion OF Peace!

[FONT=arial,helvetica]Syria Rebels “Beheaded a Christian and Fed Him to the Dogs” as Fears Grow over Islamist Atrocities[/FONT] (January 1,2013)

In something like this Christians who go to countries wherein the predominant faith is not tolerant, and is even homicidal toward what they deem 'apostates', in this case non-Muslims, they take their lives in their own hands.
I pray for the souls but I don't weep for their death. They knew the risk, they took it, and God receives them as martyrs.
Why would a Christian cry over such things as those who cast off this flesh and enter Heaven?
The tragedy within the whole scope of this religious picture is that those terrorist Muslims who slaughter those Christians believe they themselves will be rewarded in Paradise for casting out the apostates. And if they're killed in the process of trying to murder innocents, they achieve paradise too.
There's no downside then for being a terrorist Muslim. Paradise awaits whether they're killed or they kill, in the name of the faith.

Gotta love that Muhammad, huh?
What a champ! When he was poisoned and died a slow long years suffering death,most likely murdered by his own wife Aisha whom he took when she was but a child of 6. And even he admitted, in his own personal writings, that he wasn't sure if he'd see paradise.
One can only hope it has a higher standard. But in the meantime, look what he left for the world to endure as his legacy. Allah's breath, that breathes to life terrorists like those described in the OP article and the one in this reply.

Religion
of
Peace
Submission=Islam

The world needs to get a clue about tolerance for a faith that forewarns no tolerance save for submission unto it.

 

[katsung47]

Al Qaeda grows powerful in Syria as endgame nears

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Thu Dec 20, 2012

The rise of al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, which the United States designated a terrorist organisation last week, could usher in a long and deadly confrontation with the West, and perhaps Israel.
Inside Syria, the group is exploiting a widening sectarian rift to recruit Sunnis who saw themselves as disenfranchised by Assad's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that dominates Syria's power and security structures.

Al-Nusra appears to have gained popularity in a country that has turned more religious as the uprising, mainly among Sunni Muslims, has been met with increasing force by authorities.

Al Qaeda grows powerful in Syria as endgame nears | Reuters

 

[katsung47]

List of Foreign Nationals, terrorists, captured in Syria

Names of the 108 non-Syrian nationals who have been arrested in Syria during the current events

United Nations Official Document

 

[katsung47]

Syrian rebels burn and plunder religious sites – Human Rights Watch.
RT.com
23 January, 2013, 19:49


Syrian rebels have looted and burned minority religious sites in Northern Syria, US-based Human Rights Watch says. The attacks highlight the increasingly sectarian nature of the conflict as the bloodshed continues unabated.


The three incidents took place in November and December of last year in religiously mixed areas.

Rebels looted two Christian churches in separate villages in the relatively peaceful western governorate of Latakia, local witnesses told the rights watchdog.

 

[Grooms Day Prepper]

General Wesley Clark: Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years
General Wesley Clark:
Because I had been through the Pentagon right after 9/11. About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the 20th of September. I said, "We're going to war with Iraq? Why?" He said, "I don't know." He said, "I guess they don't know what else to do." So I said, "Well, did they find some information connecting Saddam to al-Qaeda?" He said, "No, no." He says, "There's nothing new that way. They just made the decision to go to war with Iraq." He said, "I guess it's like we don't know what to do about terrorists, but we've got a good military and we can take down governments." And he said, "I guess if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem has to look like a nail."

So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it's worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" -- meaning the Secretary of Defense's office -- "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran." I said, "Is it classified?" He said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well, don't show it to me." And I saw him a year or so ago, and I said, "You remember that?" He said, "Sir, I didn't show you that memo! I didn't show it to you!"
So all these were hoaxes. Arab spring, Libya regime change, Syria unrest….. all done by the CIA for the war plan of the US planned.

Absolutely. I believe it.
I can't post links yet, but here is a good article I found. We are supporting the wrong side. Christians were safe under Assad. Not any more. Because of OUR meddling. Let's here it for the good Ol' USA
-----------------------------------

This article suggests that Christians are being victimized by both sides, but actually they're more often targeted by the jihadist rebels, who see them as Assad loyalists since he didn't enforce Sharia restrictions on them, and the Christians know that the rebels will.

"Christians in Syria Fleeing Country as Crisis Reaches 'Unprecedented Levels of Horror,'" by Stoyan Zaimov for the Christian Post, January 30 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

As the civil war in Syria has reached "unprecedented levels of horror," according to the U.N., Christians are being forced to flee their homes as avoiding the violent conflict has become less of an option.

"It's a fight to the death which by definition involves killing. No one will win but those who fought from the start will create a desert and then call it victory," Sky News said of the war raging between army forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad and rebels bent on taking down what they say is a tyrannical regime.

The war has swept the entire nation, closing down infrastructure and businesses, and forcing many to choose a side or risk being caught in the crossfire. One of the worst attacks in the country occurred less than two weeks ago, when over 100 people were found slaughtered near the Christian-populated city of Homs. Witnesses blamed forces loyal to President Assad, who allegedly killed civilians they believed were harboring or aiding rebel soldiers.

Christians make up around 10 percent of the country's predominantly Muslim population, and although they have tried to stay out of the conflict, they are being forced out of their homes by rebels and loyalists; they are facing starvation and lack of medical care, and fleeing to neighboring countries like Lebanon.

Those who stay, meanwhile, see churches burnt down and priests murdered, and they have little means of protecting themselves. While many other sectarian groups have formed militias and physically fought back against the violence, Sky noted that followers of Christ in Syria are predominantly from the merchant class and do not have strongholds where they can hide out.

"The Kurds, Alawites, Druze, Christian, and Shia minorities are all now contemplating and planning for a post-Assad scenario. Of them all, the Christians are the most exposed," the report notes. "No one will win. The people have already lost."...
​