This really is a heart-rending issue, so I decided to comment on it...
First of all, our prayers go out to them, our brothers in faith in a land of terrible spiritual darkness and political uncertainty. Only God can truly provide peace of mind and safety, through his influences on the world. Yet, even as humans, we have a big part to play in this.
It's clear to me that, however unfairly, the association of the Christians with the 'regime change' operation, along with others who actually helped, such as translators, is a large part of the reason they are being singled out like this. Whilst I don't hold with Islam being a tolerant religion, based upon it's history of being quite different, in other times and places such discrimination has also happened because of the assumed 'guilt of association', which is a toxic thing to begin with. It's a horrible shock to see, but it is something that humans have been capable of for a long time. We need reasonable solutions to make sure people are safe.
Bush and Co. should never have invaded unless they were sure they could produce a stable, secular government in a short time. Still, such a government, made by Iraqis for Iraqis is the only hope that this sort of thing, which doesn't tend to happen so much in stable countries, becomes a thing of the past.
Radical groups flourish in anarchy and removing not just Saddam Hussein, but also the Baath party administrators, police and army, pretty much ensured this anarchistic situation, which Iraq is still climbing out of. He was actually putting the brakes on Islamic radicalism, as it was a threat to him too.
It seems to me that evil loves chaos, as it can fulfill it's darkest fantasies in such a time, with no-one able or even willing to stop them. Good requires a certain amount of order, as it is a constructive force. This should be a lesson to the world about attempts to make things better. They should be careful to see that they create what they really want and ensure the safety of the innocent. It seems like radical Islam is so barbaric, it requires strong governments to control. The unsavoury things such governments do may just be the lesser of two evils compared with setting it free.
Freedom, in short, is closely related to safety. If we can't guarantee this to the Iraqi Christians in their own land, then they should be granted safe asylum, as a priority, partly because it seems to me almost no-where in the middle East is truly safe for anyone not a Muslim. We can't just wash our hands of this and hope things get better there. Obama and co has inherited these problems just as much as he inherited the wars that exacerbated them- ironically, as part of their intention was (publicly at least), to create stable, viable, friendly states out of tyranny. Whether this 'lead to gold' alchemy can work is a philosophical point to those living under the effects of it.
Well, that's my two cents on the situation, anyway. Right now north Korea is hogging the headlines, but not only will these issues not go away, we should also urgently study them, to see what lessons can be learnt if we do take part in other regime changes, such as the North Korean problem. In such a case, we shouldn't just fire everyone working for Li'l Kim, as they might actually be decent individuals just doing a job, essential for rebuilding the country. We should be realistic and avoid radical actions. That way, more reasonable people are likely to come to the fore in the aftermath. Your means define your ends, not the other way around.
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