Thanks, Anthony, I'm glad someone's finally gonna pay us for all this hard work.
I'd like to do my first post as a follow-up to the only other content I've generated, a 2008 article I wrote while an intern at the Institute for Global Engagement. In it, I studied how the 2003 Iraq invasion and war affected the Assyrian Christian minority. The verdict: not well. As Christians, they were viewed as natural allies of the invading forces, and being generally peaceful and of above-average wealth, they faced a tremendous upsurge in violence and kidnappings during the chaos following Saddam's fall. Most fled the country.
Though violence across the country has decreased dramatically, Iraq's new leadership seems little troubled by the way Christians are targeted. Iraqis demonstrated on behalf of Christians last week in Mosul and Baghdad, Al Jazeera reports.
It is promising that a common meme in the recent election was national unity and Iraqi pride. How the Assyrian people, a small group with virtually no political power, are treated will be the real test of politicians' aims: national unity, or ethnically/religiously guided politics.
