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Thursday, March 17, 2016
The Hollow Echo of 'Never Again': America's Belated Acknowledgment of Genocide
Russian dictator Joseph Stalin once remarked that the death of a single individual was a shame. The death of millions was statistic. He should know. Joseph Stalin was responsible for the murders of between 20 and 30 million men, women and children. Some were ordinary factory workers. Some were simple peasant farmers while others bureaucrats who kept the machine functioning. Many were intellectuals---teachers, professors, lawyers, doctors, scientists---while others were professional military men; senior officers with decades of experience. Several were old comrades from the days of the revolution. A few were friends of Lenin. They especially had to go, and particularly if they may have been pry to "the secret"---the "Last Political Will and Testament of Lenin" wherein the great revolutionary warned that Stalin should never be allowed leadership of the party and state. Lenin felt that while Stalin was useful during the revolution and subsequent Civil War which followed, those unique skills which he cultivated would not serve "Socialist Russia" . Lenin thought that Stalin was too brutal; too dangerous. He was right. Even at the time of his death, Stalin had already put in motion plans for a new purge. This time it would be specifically the Jews, although he never really spared them before. This time, however, they were to be his focus, especially the professionals. The papers had been signed and distributed for the roundups to begin. Only his death and unwillingness of the Secret Police to act without direct authorization prevented the murder of tens of thousands.
Hitler, at least tacitly approved, the roundup and execution of some 6 million Jews (although to this day, no signed documentation by Hitler has ever been found). Another 2 or 3 million homosexuals, mentally handicapped, political opponents, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics, pacifists, Slavs, and gypsies were also imprisoned. Many were executed just as the Jews were. In fact, the majority of gypsies were Roma, and as a percentage of population, more of them died than of Jews, though this fact is often ignored (some estimates put the figure at a minimum of 25% of the entire Roma population). The Japanese military were just a brutal when it came to the Chinese, especially the "Rape of Manchuria" where thousands upon thousands were sacrificed to the Emperor and the Rising Sun. Pol Pot did his share of murder too; mostly fellow Cambodians, but Thais, Vietnamese, or individuals from Laos, died just as well. We really don't know how many people perished in these "killing fields", but the number is certainly well into the millions. During World War I, the Turkish army massacred tens of thousands of Armenian men, women, and children with equal zeal. While a precise number may never be known, the Turkish government still refuses to apologize or even acknowledge this Armenian genocide. Perhaps if they pretend it never happened, history will forget.
These are by no means all. Not even close. There have many more acts of genocide, from the Sudan in Africa to the Kurds in northern Iraq and eastern Turkey and Serbia against the peoples of Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo; many of whom were Moslem. Each and every time we promise there will be no more. We promise "Never Again" in sympathetic echo with the survivors of the Holocaust, and yet it does. Over and over again. This time it's the Syriac/Assyrian Christians, the Yazidis, and the Kurds at the hands of ISIS and we, as a nation, sit on our hands and do nothing. Perhaps this is because "our" government has refused to acknowledge the atrocities, and yet it's common knowledge. We know who is perpetrating it because they open brag about it. The film it and post the video on social media for all to see. The victims speak out to whomever will listen---international non-government organizations (NGOs), religious groups, the news media, humanitarian aid organizations, and bloggers. They film what's happening and post it themselves on social media sites. Whatever they can do to make the world aware, and yet other than the usual verbal condemnations and feigned expressions of anger, nothing becomes of it.
ISIS, as most everyone knows, happened on President Obama's watch, as did Boko Harem, Al Shabaab, and other terrorist groups who thought Al Qaeda wasn't extreme enough. Now I can see some Left leaning zealot wagging their finger at me and claiming that it wasn't Obama's fault; we should blame George W. Bush who opened the Iraqi "Pandora's Box", or maybe his old man, George H. Bush, who, along with a Arab and Western coalition, invaded Iraq in order to liberate Shell and BP Oil...err...I mean the Kuwaiti People. That might be true, but it also goes further back than that and includes just as many Democrats as Republicans. Money and power knows no party loyalty. However, it has been during the Obama Administration, the ISIS was formed, albeit allegedly with US assistance to combat Al Qaeda which spun off on its own (remember, at its core Al Qaeda was originally formed with US help to bog down the Russian military's invasion of Afghanistan). It was also under Obama that US combat troops were reduced without a stable governmental infrastructure or national military and police force (of course too, the invasion of Iraq was done without any post-war planning). It was also under Obama that the situation in Syria deteriorated so badly (one might argue that it was due to US efforts that the situation in Syria deteriorated so badly while Russia's assistance to their old regional ally has kept the Syria from collapsing into utter anarchy amid the likelihood that the terrorist organizations emerging as the strongest players. ISIS has already claimed large swaths of eastern Syria as part of their new Islamic state.
It has been this regional turmoil which has created the situation in Europe with the so-called "refugees". Millions of individuals have fled their homes for Europe (although UN guidelines say that refugees can sanctuary only in the closest non-combatant nation, not cross through those countries), with millions to follow. Germany agreed to take up to six million, with Austria, Norway, Sweden, Demark, the UK, France, and other regions in both western and eastern Europe agreeing to take millions more. What has resulted is chaos, and not just with the disorderly logistics, but with a clash of cultures as many of the refugees seemed to be under the misimpression that Europe was going to adopt their customs, traditions and Sharia law instead of them adapting to the laws and traditions of their host countries. This has resulted in hundreds of attacks on women, including gang rapes and murders, plus demands that women change their behavior and dress, demands that festivals stop, that certain foods and beverages be removed from menus, no ringing of church bells, businesses cease work during Moslem prayer times, and so on. A number of Moslem refugees claim they were promised "free" food, "free" education, jobs---if they want them, "free" medical care, and much more before leaving. In fact, German citizens living in public housing have been evicted to make room for their new occupants. German women have been asked to modify their dress and activities while German students were instructed to "volunteer" to work in refugee camps; to clean, wash, pick up trash, and whatever other duties the Moslems themselves don't want to do. Meanwhile, German school girls have been asked not to wear short dresses, short pants, or "revealing" tops in order not to "offend" any Moslems girls. There are stories too of a water park in England amending their dress policy to be "Sharia acceptable". Several police chiefs throughout Scandinavia have complained that they've lost control of their communities to these "refugees".
While all of this is terrible, there is another story I want to talk about. Despite the millions of Moslem "refugees" crossing into Europe, there are thousands of Kurds, Syriac/Assyrian Christians, and Yazidis who are being denied permission to cross Turkish or Syrian borders. Meanwhile, ISIS has been doing its best to exterminate everyone of them they come across. This is perhaps the most systematic genocide since World War II. ISIS has brazenly boasted that they will murder every single one, though several hundred young girls have been sold into slavery. After the fall of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, which sprung the from pro-democratic "Arab Spring" movement, the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, which is anything but democratic, somehow was voted into power, went on a unofficial anti-Christian bent. Approximately 10% of the Egypt's 90 million are Coptic Christians, which are a part of the Eastern Orthodox Church like the Syriac Christians. A few hundred were murdered or beaten while dozens of businesses, homes and churches were destroyed; not to mention reports of young children, mostly girls, being kidnapped by Moslem mobs and either sold or given away to be forcefully converted and raised by strangers. This ended when the Muslim Brotherhood were ousted from power by the Egyptian military. The Syriac/Assyrian Christians, which are the oldest Christian sect in the Middle East---since at least the first century--- have largely been left alone until just recently. In the city of Mosel, which has had a Christian presence since the first century and thousands once lived, there are now zero Christians left. None.
The Kurds have faced persecution for centuries by everyone from the Ottomans to the Turks to the Iranians and Iraqis. Thousands have been killed or wounded since fighting began between them and ISIS. However, the Kurds have proven to be very effective fighters and have more than held their own against ISIS, but their daily lives remain precarious. The Yazidis too have faced persecution off and on centuries, but generally have been left alone, again, until recently. Since the rise of ISIS, all three groups, along with other, smaller sects such as those of the Zoroaster faith (perhaps the oldest religion in the world) and Buddhists have faced unrelenting attacks, which usually including beheadings, crucifixions, burying alive, drowning, burning, hangings, throwing off rooftops (a favorite for the murdering gays) and so much more that even Stalin would have smiled. ISIS makes no distinction between any of the faiths in their choice of victims, nor is there any consideration for seniors, the handicapped, women, children.
With the rise of ISIS, the world has watched this multiple genocide and has done nothing. Although numbers are hard to come by, it is estimated that some 5000 Yazidis have been killed and at least 300 women have been sold into sex slavery over the past three years. An estimated 7000 have been forced to convert and between 50,000 and 70,000 have become refugees, fleeing to Northern Iraq and the protection of the Kurds or to Jordan and Lebanon. At one point, Christians numbered 12 million in the Middle East. That number is now but a fraction of its former figure. In fact, ISIS has made it point of making Christians "Enemy Number One". Approximately close to 100,000 have been murdered according to a October 2014 report Father Gabriel Nadaf, an Israeli Christian Arab leader, gave to the UN Human Right Council. That's including the tens of thousands made homeless or the hundreds of churches destroyed, not to mention historical artifacts blown to bits or burned.
What this is is nothing short of calculated genocide of peoples based on their ethnicity in the case of the Kurds and Yazidis and religion in the case of everyone. This isn't new. It's been going on for years if not for a decade. It's perpetrator has been ISIS. It's been no secret. It's been reported on by several media outlets. It's been denounced by a few governments and NGOs, and yet, just today, March 17, 2016, John Kerry, the US Secretary of State "officially" called it "genocide". What I find hardest to understand isn't the timid accusation of ISIS or the "better-late-than-never" response of the Obama Regime. It's the fact that we've known about this for years but have and continued to reject refugee status to the Syriac Christians, the Yazidis, or Kurds into the United States, yet we have no problem approving Moslems---at least 40,000--- from the same areas being heavily recruited by ISIS into the US. Naturally, we're promised they'd be "thoroughly vetted" but as we've seen, that haven't worked out to well. In Europe, these same three groups have been stopped at the borders (mainly Turkey) and denied refugee status. Yet millions of Moslems pour into Europe; some from even areas under not affected by the conflict, with dozens if not hundreds of ISIS fighters crossing with them. Those who have managed to make it into Europe and the refugee camps have been beaten and robbed with the women and young girls reportedly being assaulted or raped. Why is that? Do you think that if the Obama Regime had made a request or applied pressure they would have still been denied access? Probably not. There's a pretty good chance they would have been allowed refugee status, not to mention the next to zero probability they were covert terrorists which can't be said of the Moslems now occupying European towns and cities. What has caused a mostly Christian Europe to refuse fellow Christians, and a minority, sanctuary? Fear of being called some name? I sure hope not.
What we have here is the classic example of denial in the face of overwhelming evidence. Not much different from the Jews or gypsies of WWII Europe really. Yet, we've lacked the courage to step up and do anything, until now, and then it's mostly empty words. I guess I would be more interested in knowing why, after insurmountable evidence and the condemnation of NGOs, religions organizations, leading international politicians, is the US just now willing to acknowledge the obvious? America has already been forced to endure treasonous acts by government officials with nothing but delays, lies, word games, and blatant displays of arrogance to show for it not to mention countless acts of incompetence. If you want an example of what's wrong with our government, I think this would be a good example.
ISIS Has Committed Genocide, Obama Administration Declares
http://abcnews.go.com/US/secretary-state-john-kerry-declare-isis-committed-genocide/story?id=37713938
ISIS "Declares War on Christians"
http://virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=14593
Some 100,000 Christians killed per year over faith, Vatican says
http://virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=14593
The Fight of Their Lives
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/fight-lives
Persecution of the Yazidis by ISIL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Yazidis_by_ISIL
UN Investigators Accuse ISIS of Genocide Over Attacks on Yazidis
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/isis-genocide-yazidis-iraq-un-panel.html?_r=0
Yazidi refugees flee ISIS but find door to US asylum closed
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/12/yazidi-refugees-flee-isis-but-find-door-to-us-asylum-closed.html
Labels:
Al Qaeda,
Assyrian Christians,
Coptics,
Europe,
Genocide,
George Bush,
Gypsies,
Iraq,
Jews,
John Kerry,
Kurds,
Moslem,
President Obama,
refugees,
Stalin,
Syria,
Syriac Christians,
Terrorists,
Turkey,
Yazidis
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