 "The situation in Iraq is (presented to Americans) like a Hollywood
film, black and white," Butros said, "but the situation is much more
complex. Americans are asking the wrong questions, and that they are
focused on their self-interest, not on what is best for the region."
"Before the U.S. can leave, they must establish security and the
infrastructure that is needed to live," he added. "American forces
bombed everything during the invasion, most notably our power
plants, and most of it has not been rebuilt."
"They don't have a choice; America must stay," Nabil said.
The priests are not in complete agreement about how this must
happen, but they do agree that if the U.S. can hope for a resolution
to the crisis in Iraq, and ultimately for success in the fight
against terror, it must begin to think more broadly about the cause
of the situation. The issue is regionwide and multilayered and must
be approached as such, they said. There are multiple actors involved
in creating terror in Iraq: disaffected members of Saddam Hussein's
Baath party from within the country and from Syria, al-Qaida
terrorists supported by Saudi Arabian-backed Sunni fundamentalist
groups, Kurdish separatists, and Iranian-backed Islamists of the
Shiite persuasion.
The struggle for power is created by an overlapping mix of
ideological, religious, political and economic forces that all
conspire against the safety and security of millions of Iraqis. This
has plummeted Iraq into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the
world. Four million Iraqis are displaced as a result of the
conflict, about half of them now refugees in neighboring countries.
Forty percent of the population does not have enough food. The
infrastructure has been so decimated that Iraq's health care system,
once state-of-the-art, struggles to treat the most elemental
diseases. Half of Iraq's population is under the age of 16, and the
poor security means that many of those young people are not going to
school.
The priests do, however, agree that the U.S. alone cannot solve
the issue. They said a multilateral response from the U.N., or a
coalition of nations along with the U.S., should be formed to thwart
the ongoing instability and the deteriorating lack of trust the
Iraqi people have in the occupying forces.
"To be hungry, that is difficult. To not have electricity, that
is difficult. This is the 21st century, and we don't have
electricity," Butros said. "If we have good services, trust with the
people could be restored and the situation in Iraq would turn
around."
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 Christian suffer from this situation just as all Iraqis do, the
priests say, but the instability has also unleashed a level of
persecution of Christians that has not been experienced in Iraq in
generations.
"(In) some parts of Iraq it is genocide. We are not optimistic
about the future in those areas," Butros said. "If we are
persecuted, it is not because we did harm but because we are
Christians."
"Recently two churches have been transformed to mosques, and
crosses and statues are being destroyed," Nabil added. He also
explained that the persecution of Christians has taken many forms.
Kidnappings, assassinations, rapes and bombing of religious places
were just a few he named.
The current Christian population in Iraq is estimated at
550,000-600,000. Figures are difficult to come by, but based on
their experience, the priests estimate that 200,000 Christians have
been displaced since 2003. About half of those are from Baghdad and
have fled to the Christian villages in the north of Iraq. The other
half are living as refugees in neighboring states, mostly Syria and
Jordan.
According to the priests, in 2003 the American army was warmly
welcomed by the Iraq people. Today, they say that trust has been
eroded because of the lack of progress and continued instability.
"The people would shake their hands and give them flowers, but
today they hate the U.S. army," Butros said. "Regaining the trust of
the Iraqi people is one of the best ways the American forces can
fight the terrorists."
The Dominican Sisters of Springfield have a seven-year
relationship with other Dominicans and Christians in Iraq. Since
2001, two sisters from the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of
Sienna in Mosul, Iraq, have been living with the sisters of
Springfield.
[Text from file received from
Nathan Mihelich, director of communications for the
Dominican Sisters of
Springfield]
Sister Beth Murphy, OP, contributed
to this article.
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