"4,000-Strong Christian Militia Formed to Fight..." Topic

… ISIS in Northern Iraq.

"Thousands of Iraqi Christians have established their own militia and are training to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq.

The Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU) has 3,000 Assyrian Christian men registered to be trained, while another 500 are already training for combat. The militia was founded by the Iraqi political party, the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

Another 500 volunteers from the group are already situated in Assyrian villages in northern Iraq, the majority of which were captured by ISIS when they marched across the country last summer. Approximately 30,000 Christians have since fled the Nineveh Plains for fear of falling into the hands of the radical Islamists…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Good thing short term but ultimately will lead to more bloodshed between Christians & Moslems.

Christians had lived relatively peacefully in Iraq under Saddam Hussein by refusing to take up arms. Now that they are arming, future Arabs and Iranians will see them as a.threat and unleash a bloodbath somewhere down the road.

No easy answers in the Middle East.

Better than watching your families killed/raped in front of you and then being beheaded yourself…

Agreed. We all have to die. What matters is how you wish to go. On your feet or on your knees?

Dan

And when they do, certain elements in the West will finger point and say "SEE! Those terrible Christians are no better!" :p

Agree with you Dan!.

Amicalement
Armand

Where, exactly, is Meggido located, again?

Have their mess hall serve bacon every morning and make it compulsory to eat. It'll weed out any infiltrators.

Doubt you can find that many pigs around.

Easier to do a quick circumsion check…

LOL. I doubt Megiddo and the Valley of Jezreel can accommodate 4000 Christians and all their many enemies!

Da

Saw the Christian Militia report on CNN … may be too little too. And maybe it's just me if I were a Christian any where in the region I'd move … As far as Meggido … we'll just have to wait & see …

There used to be ~2,000,000 Christians living in Iraq at the time of the first Gulf War, now there are less than 200,000.

Didn't Syria have a large Christian population too, before all this happened?

Not that it matters in any way more concerned with getting involved in Ukraine though, where "only" 5,000 have died. Makes no sense.

He'd rather kick a bear in the arse than , even though nearly 2,000,000 have died, both Muslim and Christians, since ISIS began.

Dan

There used to be ~2,000,000 Christians living in Iraq at the time of the first Gulf War, now there are less than 200,000.

Most of those moved out of the region I'd think … Hopefully … Any one keeping track of how many Christians, Yazidis, non-moslems, etc. have been killed by Deash, AQ, etc. ? Could be a [sadly] interesting number. Of course not anywhere near the moslem to moslem slaughter … And not just Daesh, AQ, etc. killing other moslems. But we see at the same time various moslem factions killing other non-Deash moslems … as well … a killing free for all zone …

Dan,
Look at Jordan's response in a few days compared to the US response…I have to agree with you…
Legion 4 – that would be a good comparison to show the current genocide of Christians in the near East…

But I guess we shouldn't be so harsh with ISIS today, since Christians did the same during the Crusades (1000 hrs ago), the Reformation (500 yrs ago) and had cruel slave laws back 150 yrs ago. Right?

YouTube link

Dan

Oh I wasn't claiming that all those Christians have been killed. Most have left Iraq, the lucky ones to Europe and the USA, but the majority are in refugee camps and squatters towns, some have even been forcefully converted to Islam.

My meaning is that Christians and other religious minorities have been driven from their traditional homelands of the past 2000 years.

"At this point what difference does it make?"

@Caribe what are you smoking? hundreds of years ago is not today, and you're saying, you can't blame Dash. Man you can blame them all day long(and still not have enough time) for being murderous, hypocritical destroyers of civilisation with no redeeming characters now or ever.

Lol

Believe me brother, I'm with ya!

Dan

These Christians used to be left alone in Iraq and Syria, where the secular regimes of Hussein and Assad tolerated them at least if not accepted them. Now with the bloody sectarian conflict (not just between sunnis and shiites but between sunnis and other 'less extreme' sunnis as well) they find themselves under siege by all sides. Might as well fight for themselves or join the Kurdish peshmerga I guess.

Legion 4 – that would be a good comparison to show the current genocide of Christians in the near East…

Depending on who you read …

the Near East as including Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, the Gaza Strip, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the West Bank, and Yemen. The United Nations FAO defines the region similarly, but also includes Afghanistan while excluding the countries of North Africa and the Palestinian territories. According to National Geographic, the terms Near East and Middle East denote the same territories and are 'generally accepted as comprising the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq with its Kurdistan region, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey'

So that includes much of the current "battlefields" now …

Oh I wasn't claiming that all those Christians have been killed.

No, I didn't mean to allude to that many were killed … yes, most moved, I just didn't word my statement correctly …

@Caribe … hundreds of years ago is not today, and you're saying, you can't blame Daesh. Man you can blame them all day long(and still not have enough time) for being murderous, hypocritical destroyers of civilisation with no redeeming characters now or ever.

I agree, the POTUS said something similar in a recent speech, about the Crusades, etc. … and it didn't sit well with many either … My ancestors came from Italy. We don't see Roman "bread & circuses" activity happening there today ! Regardless, bringing up all the bad things that others have done in the distant past. No where near justifies what Deash, AQ, the Taliban, BH, AS, etc. are doing today …

Lol

That's the link I inserted in my post, and my comment was poking fun at it!!!

Dan

Yeah … I know … it's just fun to "poke" ya back !

Don't worry, we'll soon be launching American air strikes agaisnt them. They will be lablelled Christian terrorists.

More likely "Crusaders", a much worse term to Muslims.

Legion,

You're just plain mean!

Dan

Legion,

You're just plain mean!

Dan

I try …

Ottoathome
Don't worry, we'll soon be launching American air strikes agaisnt them. They will be lablelled Christian terrorists.

cwlinsj
More likely "Crusaders", a much worse term to Muslims.

I'm pretty sure there are a number in the region that use those terms … or will …

At this point I believe the only troops on the ground should be SF/Spec Ops, CIA, etc. and combat trainers, etc., and lots of CAS. … The US and others have lost too much blood & treasure already … twice … It's really the region's fight now, they just have to step up to the plate. Or let things continue to go to "Deash"/ … IF they really want to stop Deash/AQ etc., the local forces are going to have to steel themselves to fact to rid their territories of this cancer. They are going to have to lose much of their own "blood & treasure". With many, many [more] dead of both military and non-combatants alike … Or to continue suffer at the hands of Deash/AQ/etc. … Like the West/Allies saw in WWI and WWII, it appears this may be/is the only way to "fix" things as they are now. It will cost many more dead … moslem dead … not Western … not again … not anymore …

Sadly, 'not again,' not anymore' are likely to translate into 'in the not too distant future.' Over there or closer to home.

The 'Caliphate's' borders do not stop at the borders of the Middle East.

Let them fight their own battles.

The West needs to focus on our own economic and social problems, not dealing with the perpetual hell hole that is the middle East.

We should just protect oil and maritime interests and that's it. Anyone threatens those, they get annilihilated with extreme prejudice and no mercy shown.

Agreed … they don't deserve their freedom if they are not willing to unite and fight for it. It will cost many more dead … moslem dead … not Western … not again … not anymore …

Legion4, I can understand your reticence in this fight. But I don't believe we can stand by while a (toothbrush mustache WWII German leader) grows in what is probably the most sensitive part of the world. I don't think I want to stand by while innocent men women and children are raped and beheaded because of their religion. We did that once before and the shame of it is still with us. I was completely against the war in Iraq as I didn't believe the propaganda. I was marginally in favor of Afghanistan. But I am gung-ho on this war against IS. It is worth fighting and dying for the innocents. Or else we don't stand for what we think we stand for. A human life is a human life be it Muslim, Christian, or Jewish. This is a war against evil in the guise of religion. IS has created many conundrums for the Muslim world that only the Muslim world can answer. But it would be best to put down the rabid dog that is IS as rapidly as possible to let the Muslims decide what the Koran actually means.

No Phil, I'm not reluctant to fight. If you knew my background I don't think you'd say anything like that. I'm saying we should do things differently this time, in the region. The US and it's allies fought 2 wars in Iraq. We learned … You can't deploy massive amounts of Western troops as in GW I & GW II. As I said, I believe the proper tactics this time. The only Western troops on the ground should be SF/Spec Ops, CIA, etc. and combat trainers, etc., and massive amounts of CAS. The only way this will work is if the locals unite and cleanse Deash, AQ, etc. … I'm very "gung-ho" when it comes to stopping Deash's barbaric, medieval brutality. I could think of few things as satisfying as if I were a young Plt Ldr or Co. Cdr. again. Springing an ambush on a Deash unit. Calling in FA and requesting Willy Pete. Personally aiming and squeezing the trigger and watch Deash heads explode like a ripe grape. Having CAS coming in with the new version of Napalm. Directing gunships, as they open fire with miniguns and rockets on Deash positions, seeing their body parts go flying in the air. Opening up with a M2 .50 cal MG cutting an attacking Deash's units trooped literally in half … They are very evil and whether male of female, they deserve to be on the receiving end of … how have I heard it said [?]… an unstoppable avalanche of fire and steel …

Phil – point is I don't think we're actually needed.

the Iraqi Army seems to be pulling itself together as the government wakes up to the idea that a competent military is a useful thing to have… the militias are doing well as are the Kurds.

Hopefully al we need to supply is airpower.

The test will come in whether they can take Mosul.

Dan