In recent months, Mideast Christians have been forming militias to fight the Islamic State (IS) and other jihadi groups in both Iraq and Syria—even as the Obama administration, which arms the “opposition,” refuses to arm them.
In Iraq, some of the few remaining Assyrian Christians have formed militias under the name Dwekh Nawsha (literally meaning “self-sacrifice” in Christ’s native tongue of Aramaic). Most of these fighters are from among those Christians displaced from the Ninevah Plain due to the atrocities committed by IS and are on the frontlines fighting the jihadis.
They were formed soon after the U.S.-supported Kurdish Peshmerga, which is leading the fight against IS in the region, retreated from many Christian villages without a struggle last summer, declining to protect them from the IS advance which led to the usual atrocities.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Christians have taken up arms because they want to protect their own land, and many no longer trust the Kurds to do it for them.” Indeed, the Kurds, including the Peshmerga, have been known to abuse and even persecute Christians. Like IS, Kurds are Sunni Muslims too.
“We will stay here, and Christians will protect Christians. Not Arabs or Kurds protecting us, but Christians,” said local commander Fouad Masaoud Gorgees.
In neighboring Syria, approximately 500 Syriac Christian fighters recently assembled and managed to prevent the Islamic State from entering the ancient Christian settlement of Sadad. But on October 30, IS captured a town less than five miles away, leaving Sadad vulnerable to continued assaults.
Even the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox church, Ignatius Aphrem II, traveled to Sadad to boost the morale of Christian defenders. Said Aphrem:
It was emotional but it was also very encouraging to see our young people determined to defend their land and stay in their homeland. To see them ready to fight and to sacrifice for their land, I think that’s what’s very meaningful, that made me very proud of them.
There’s a reason why Christians are frantically trying to save Sadad from the clutches of IS. As one Syriac Christian fighter put it, Sadad “is a symbolic place for us and we will not allow it to fall again.”
He is referring to the events of October 2013, when the U.S.-supported Free Syrian Army—widely touted as moderate but in fact working with al-Qaeda’s Al Nusra Front—captured the town. They made a graphic video (with English subtitles) of those whom they killed, the “dogs of Assad”—“dog” being an ancient Islamic epithet for Christians—while shouting Islam’s victory-cry, “Allahu Akbar” (which John McCain equates to a Christian saying “thank God”) and praise for the Free Syrian Army.
During their one week occupation of Sadad, the moderate/radical coalition tortured, raped, and murdered 45 Christians; the bodies of six people from one family alone, ranging from ages 16 to 90, were found at the bottom of a well (an increasingly common fate for “subhuman” Christians).
At the time, Syriac Archbishop Selwanos Boutros called it Syria’s “largest massacre of Christians.” Even so, this massacre was wholly ignored by the Obama administration and so-called mainstream media in an effort to maintain the narrative that the Free Syrian Army was “moderate.”
Concerning the Sadad massacres, the archbishop had asked in 2013:
We have shouted aid to the world but no one has listened to us. Where is the Christian conscience? Where is human consciousness? Where are my brothers?
As persecuted Mideast Christians have well learned since, most Western governments—the Obama administration at their head—could care less about their fate. They care only about one thing: overthrowing Assad—at any cost, including by directly or indirectly arming the Islamic terrorists that persecute Christians in horrific ways, including slaughtering those who refuse to renounce Christ for Muhammad.
Yet truly “moderate” Christian militias fighting the Islamic State are denied arms from Washington: “Lobbyists in D.C. are blocking weapons and equipment from reaching Dwekh Nawsha, the Christian militia force that has been fighting ISIS in Iraq’s Assyrian Nineveh plains.”
Retired Lt. Col. Sargis Sangari, an Iraq war veteran who served 20 years in the army, says: “As much as you’re giving money to all these individuals who are killing each other [the “moderate” terrorists, Kurds, etc.], why don’t you try to give it to the Assyrians?”…. Currently, their [Christians’] lack of resources prevents them from launching an offensive.” U.S. funding, training, and equipment would allow these Christian militias to take the fight to IS, added Sangari.
Of course, all of this assumes that U.S. leadership actually wants the Islamic State and other “moderate” jihadis to be defeated in an offensive by anyone—a dubious assumption.
Still, persecuted Christian pleas have not totally fallen on deaf ears. A few Western Christians, mostly Americans, have traveled to the Middle East to help the indigenous Christians fight the jihadis.
Seeing their governments, which possess the military capability to annihilate the Islamic State, do next to nothing—not even help arm Christians—against IS, these Western Christians have decided to take it on themselves to fight the good fight on behalf of the weak and oppressed.
Brett, a former American soldier who once served in Iraq, now sees himself as a “soldier of Christ” and has returned to help train Dwekh Nawsha against IS.
According to the 28-year-old, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. But here we’re actually fighting for the freedom of the people … to be able to live without persecution, to keep the church bells ringing.”
U.S. vet Jordan, who has the words “Christ is Lord” inscribed in his vest, said: “I decided that if our government wasn’t going to do anything about it, I would… We’re getting shot at [by IS/jihadis] on pretty much a daily basis…. We don’t have the technology that the United States military has to push our enemies away.”
First the Christians of Iraq and then Syria implored the West for help against the Islamic persecutors that the United States unleashed by overthrowing secular strongman Saddam Hussein and now against Bashar Assad.
Brutally persecuted Christians were totally ignored by both government and media—even as Obama and media now try to pull on the heartstrings of Americans to accept tens and hundreds of thousands of Muslims.
Then Christians implored the Obama administration to simply stop arming their persecutors. When that too fell on deaf ears, vastly outnumbered and underequipped Christians gathered to fight the Islamic State head on, hoping the U.S., which showers the “opposition” with weapons, would help equip them against IS.
No such luck. As a result, a few Western Christians who believe in religious freedom are risking their personal lives to help their Mideast brothers against the scourge of “ISIS.”
In light of all this, to still fail to understand which “side” U.S. leadership is on—they currently claim to be on the side of “democracy,” “freedom,” and “human rights”—is to be beyond naïve.
From the very beginning, back in the Garden, there came to be two sides. The side that our Creator, the True God has created through His Righteousness, and the side of evil, the side of the devil.
Down through the centuries, there have only been two sides: Good and evil.
If one is not on God’s side, then that one is on the side of evil, even if they don’t believe that satan the devil exists.
It is obvious which side the governments are on. Armageddon is close enough for us to hear the sounds of that final war. Prayer is the strongest weapon a Christian possesses. God and His Son will soon be bringing the war of Armageddon to end the role of evil, satan’s evil.
As the Psalm says: “Just a little while longer until the wicked are no more.”
Praying, praying, praying, for Israel, her people & the peace of G-d’s holy city, Jerusalem; for the once-free West; for the rest of us; for millions upon millions of muslims to convert to the true God.
God bless, protect and prosper you in your efforts! I truly believe within the next few days we will have change! We are praying everyday for several years! God will help us and I believe has heard and is answering our Prayers! He promised! 11Chronicles 7:14 “Then if my people who are called by my name
will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked
ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their
land.” Dear Heavenly Father, Almighty God, Jehovah! I come before Your
Awesome Throne of Grace under the Blood of Jesus, with His Holiness and His
Righteousness, knowing that my own is as a filthy rag! Oh, Lord, Forgive our
Nation for these horrible, blasphemous sins! Lord, you see the evil all through
our government! Help us REMEMBER that it is You that have made us and NOT we
ourselves! Lord, all we, like sheep, have gone astray… Each to their own way!
We repent, Lord and are returning to the GOD that is our FIRST LOVE! Help us,
Please, Oh Lord, as we Repent! We are sorry we got wrapped up in our day to day
lives while this EVIL crept in and took over our government! We will be
faithful to STAY AWAKE to our Love of You! We will teach our children Your
ways! Please hear from Heaven! We are humbled, We have repented and We are
praying… We seek Your face only and are turning from our wicked way! Please,
Lord, Speak to our Military Leaders, Inspire them to honor their Oath to
Protect and Defend us! Help us please, please, to remove the evil from our
Nation and restore our Nation to our Constitution, our Republic and Christian
Foundation!
Show us your arm of mercy! Your mighty arm of Justice! Your mighty
hand of healing! Please bring revival to America! Pour out your Spirit, Lord,
God and Bless America Again! In Jesus Name I pray! AMEN
Obama illegally occupies our White House! He is a fraud, muslim liar who has our Congress and Supreme Court either brainwashed, blackmailed or paid off but whatever the reason they are complicit in this fraud! Our Constitution requires that to serve as President of the United States the occupant must be a child of two U.S. Citizens, a “Natural Born” citizen! Congress tried to change this 8 times before he was elected and could not! I personally believe he will be arrested and removed soon! When that is done you will have all the help and support you require! Meanwhile we pray for you daily! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zPRYmTSeOpSvXr0rXVun-WIw1OtWxYY9dOstdQmMIqo/edit?pli=1
Your requirement of two US citizen parents doesn’t exist in REAL US law.
Obama Support Islamic Terrorist Groups By Training And Funding Moderate Muslims in Syria who end up serving Terrorist Group with US weapons & funding, what a traitor!
The events of October 2013, when the U.S. supported Free Syrian Army—widely touted as moderate but in fact working with al-Qaeda’s Al Nusra Front—captured the town. They made a graphic video (with English subtitles) of those whom they killed, the “dogs of Assad”—“dog” being an ancient Islamic epithet for Christians—while shouting Islam’s victory-cry, “Allahu Akbar” (which John McCain equates to a Christian saying “thank God”) and praise for the Free Syrian Army.
During their one week occupation of Sadad, the moderate/radical coalition tortured, raped, and murdered 45 Christians; the bodies of six people from one family alone, ranging from ages 16 to 90, were found at the bottom of a well (an increasingly common fate for “subhuman” Christians).
At the time, Syriac Archbishop Selwanos Boutros called it Syria’s “largest massacre of Christians.” Even so, this massacre was wholly ignored by the Obama administration and so-called mainstream media in an effort to maintain the narrative that the Free Syrian Army was “moderate.”
Our current American Administration is a disgrace.
So was the last one. George W Bush held hands and probably sucked the Kings dick for oil points. How much I hate that family of American Traitors! All Lying sacks of shit! Remember Slick Willie and Bush promising to make sure the money got to the people in Haiti???….lol…STOLEN AGAIN! American Presidents have become Thieves and Liars!
Yup, ever since the U.S. Government murdered President Kennedy, we have been on a downward spiral with no way of applying the brakes. Sad, it’s taken 50 years for Americans to start waking up.
That is when the Shadow Government was installed!
Probably too late
US and the Western world in general are nothing but Anti-Christian,
islamo-phylic hellholes run by homosexual fascists! Shame on the USA!
Shame on West! God bless Russia! Glory to Russia!
Amen brother!
I want a Christian back in the White House. Trump 2016!
I am amazed at the lack of discerning of spirits in the so called group that even dares to call themselves Christians today. Trump is not a born again believer and he is pro choice of murdering babies in the womb. The book of Timmothy quotes, “they have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof, these are they that sneak into houses leading SILLY WOMEN laden with sins captive and are ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth” So many “silly women” that think they know best. Have no idea of truth or godliness. Not born again .You are cursed when you put trust in man and the future election. There will be no election. You are being distracted and blinded. Time to get your soul and spirit right with Christ. Christ is the only hope. Not the president or politics. Our country is under the judgment hand of God because of “silly women”. who kill their unborn.
I don’t know if Trump is genuinely Christian or not, but at least he recognizes the value of Christians and morality.
Obama the Muslim will probably be the last American President. Unfortunately, he has no intentions of leaving office and has written B.S. Executive Action that gives him Dictator Powers. All’s he has to do, is swipe his pen across some paper and Congress will continue to be impotent. He will never support Christians……EVER!!!!!
Gear up folks, this crap is coming to a town near you.
Millennium you are spot on. He will provoke a false flag event of some kind, probably involving these Syrian invaders, and use that as an excuse to declare martial law. Then comes gun confiscation. Be warned friends. It’s coming, so get ready for the worst.
Ohabama is a Moose Limb
While our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, sadly the past few presidents haven’t upheld them. While claiming Christianity, they haven’t lived or governed accordingly.
I don’t know what else it’s going to take to show American’s that we do, indeed, have a Muslim in the White House. Folks where I live say I should shut up and not say that, but I say that the truth always stands. You know a man by his fruits and Obama’s are pretty rotten. Just look who he has a number one enemy to the US. “Right-wing extremist, Veterans, conservatives, Constitution lovin’ folks, especially 2nd Amendment lover’s and Christians. Not Islamic extremist cutting people’s heads off, not a “refugee” who was part of the strike on France, but freedom loving American’s. I will shout that Obama is not only a Muslim, but a practicing Islamic Muslim Extremist who whole goal is to destroy America till the day My Lord closes my eyes. Do not fear him that can kill the body, but, Fear Him, who can kill both the body and the soul.
THE negro is a Moslem. He hates you, he hates America, he hates Christians.
THE PERFECT candidate the lieberals wanted. After you get rid of the negro you must get rid of lieberals.
Ship them out of your country they hate so much!
Heavenly Father please help them..our regime will not help anything pure and good.
Don’t bother with obummer . drop a dime and call putin, you will probably get some where with him! And have a fighting chance! If you haven’t figured out what side obummers on, it maybe too late for you!
Sounds like when the Jewish resistance was refused help in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and they had to overcome the Nazis with grit and determination before they were overwhelmed and fought with rocks and Molotov cocktails!! Total DISGRACE!!
Raymond thanks for the great article. Please go to the website lt Col. Sargis Sangari founded and consider becoming a monthly donor-even just $5-$10/month. It all adds up. The website has a few of Sargis interviews. http://unitedassyrianappeal.org/
Hey there obama you tyrant. What is wrong giving Arms to the Persecuted Christians, so they can defend themselves and fight isis. It is the same damn thing you want to do to us by taking away our guns so we can’t defend ourselves either. It is time for your impeachment buster. Your working with your muslim brotherhood aren’t you. We know your damn game plan. Get rid of us christans and rename our country after your disgusting muslim brotherhood, that is on a slaughter mission.!!!!
I always heard rumours and ignored them that obama was a Muslim. Now I realise there is no smoke without fire.
You have a Muslim in the white house. I pray for all you syrian Christians. Trump 2016!! Marine le Penn for France 2016!! May trump and marine and putin and viktor orban and Robert fico all throw out this scum and wipe them off the face of this earth.
Obummer is a closet Muslim. He hates Christ and His people as evidenced by his actions. The rotten tree is known by it’s stinking fruit.
This is why I will never trust a Democrat in office, ever again.