Mideast Christian Suffering, U.S. Denial; Will Democracies Combat Terror?

In this mailing: Raymond Ibrahim: Mideast Christian Suffering, U.S. Denial Jagdish N. Singh: Will Democracies Combat Terror? Mideast Christian Suffering, U.S. Denial by Raymond Ibrahim  •  January 31, 2016 at 5:00 am Escaped eyewitnesses have reported that ISIS places Iraqi and Syrian Christians in cages or coffins and sets them on fire. ISIS persecution of Christians "fits the definition of ethnic cleansing." — Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial. The Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Ephrem in Mosul, Iraq, before if the captured by the Islamic State (left), and after. When a 1,400-year-old Iraqi Christian monastery was destroyed by the Islamic State (ISIS) most of the world condemned the demolition -- except for spokesman for the U.S. military's Operation Inherent Resolve, Col. Steve Warren. "Thousands [of Iraqi Christians] have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee," said CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview with Col. Warren the other week. "There is legitimate fear -- you're there in Baghdad -- that the long history of Christians living peacefully, productively in Iraq, is coming to an end. How worried should we be about the Christian community in Iraq?" Col. Warren's response: "Wolf, ISIL doesn't care if you're a Christian ... We've seen no specific evidence of a specific targeting towards Christians." Continue Reading Article  Will Democracies Combat Terror? by Jagdish N. Singh  •  January 31, 2016 at 4:00 am Many extremist Islamic groups are still shielded by states such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran. These countries have so far not severed their links, overt or covert, with these outfits. The United States and other members of the free world need to take corrective measures not only against terrorist groups but also against the states that sponsor them. Washington, in its relationship with Tehran and Islamabad, among others, is on the wrong track. Its approach towards a rogue Iran is not likely to "bring it in from the cold," but to embolden it even further in its various terror activities the world over. In 2014, this photo of Muslim ISIS supporters in India's Tamil Nadu state went viral on Twitter. Sadly, major world powers, including the United Nations, have not appeared serious about fighting terrorism or the Islamic State (ISIS, IS) or similar terrorist groups. UN Security Council Resolution 2170 (August 15, 2014) called on member-states to take "national measures to prevent fighters from traveling from their soil to join the IS and deny it any arms or financial support. The resolution also "expressed readiness to consider putting on the sanctions list those who facilitated the recruitment and travel of foreign fighters." Continue Reading Article