The sudden withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan triggered a new humanitarian crisis.As Taliban Renaming the country they effortlessly occupied — the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — desperate people are trying to flee, even to neighboring countries that are already struggling with their own crises. Afghan parents worried about their daughter and suddenly relegated to a war bounty for Taliban fighters. Those who have cooperated with the United States in the past two decades have been hunted down and hanged. Religious minorities know that they have no right to religious expression in the new Islamic emirate.
These painful events evoke nightmarish memories of what happened in Iraq when the United States decided to withdraw troops in 2011. Three years later, it came back to fight the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world-the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as the “Islamic State”. Islamic State. What happened destroyed innocent minorities.
Iraq is the ancestral land of two indigenous peoples: the Yazidis and the Assyrians of Iraqi Christians. These two groups lived peacefully on the land between the Tigris and Euphrates for most of their history. This peace and their future were torn to pieces by the conquered Islamic State “Caliphate”.
The Islamic State’s genocide of Yazidis and Assyrians accelerated the near-extinction of Iraq’s Christian communities.Estimated number of Christians Before 2003, it was 1.5 million. Now about 150,000 Stay in the country. Murders, rapes, kidnappings, massive destruction of houses, schools, hospitals, chapels and basic modern infrastructure put them on the brink of complete destruction.
Ahmed Gallabuli/AFP via Getty Images
Today, some people have returned, trying to restore their lives by rebuilding the town. Nevertheless, it is still impossible to erase the traumatic memories of beheadings, stabbings and rapes that plagued the Assyrians. Many others fled the country in order to achieve Western democracy, but still live in poverty in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Since 2014, more than 150,000 Yazidis Has fled Iraq.As of today, there are Over 2,700 The whereabouts of the Yazidis, mainly women and children, are still unknown; only 30% of the Yazidis returned to their homes. Many other people returning to the Sinjar area are still struggling in the refugee camps.
There is no doubt that the minority areas of Sinjar and the Nineveh Plain in Iraq will become one of the primary targets of the revived Islamic State or other terrorist organizations.
ISIS’s comeback is a real possibility. Since 2019, ISIS activities in Iraq have been isolated. In recent months, ISIS has become more organized, with attacks, kidnappings, and assassinations at checkpoints on the rise.
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In view of the Taliban’s past cooperation and Al-Qaeda (Islamic State developed from this), the fall of Afghanistan has triggered fear and fear of more massacres that will happen-neither the Assyrians nor the Yazidis will be able to repel these attacks.
When speaking to the country after the fall of Kabul, the president Joe Biden Announcing that he will continue to pay close attention to the activities of these terrorist organizations and take prompt and effective actions to combat them, no matter where they are in the Middle East or Africa.
However, at a recent meeting held in the Oval Office, President Biden informed Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi that the United States will not carry out combat missions before the end of this year. Notice That, “Our role in Iraq will be…stand by at any time to continue training, assisting, helping and responding to the emergence of the Islamic State.”
Those of us who have been working on the frontline witnessed the suffering of the victims of the early ISIS genocide, and they are deeply concerned. If the United States watched the Taliban take over Afghanistan within a week, can our affected communities believe that President Biden will believe that the United States and its allies will protect our remnants?
An Assyrian named Stefan bravely returned to his small town Qaraqosh, trying to rebuild his broken life, he bluntly said: “Another attack [against our people] This will be our end in this country. We cannot afford to lose the American presence in Iraq. “
Gail Orenstein/NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images
After the fall of Kabul, we understand the priorities of U.S. policymakers—U.S. national security and regional stability. But now that Afghanistan has collapsed and is led by a force that used to cooperate with Al Qaeda, and Iran and China are its supporters, it has become more important for the United States to maintain a military presence in Iraq to protect it. People on the verge of extinction.
For Christians and Yazidis in Iraq, the options now being considered Pentagon, The State Council and the Oval Office are nothing more than life and death.
Just as images from Kabul remind us all, there is something to do in the Middle East.
We hope and pray that President Biden will make the right decision instead of throwing Iraq—especially the Assyrians and Yazidis—to the wolves.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the associate dean and director of global social action at the college. Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Juliana Taimroozay is the founder and president Iraqi Christian Relief Committee.
Hadi Pir Vice President Spring organization.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
