NR: "This is very clearly
targeted at what little remains of Iraq's Christian
community."
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Length: 4:15
LARGE (49.2 MB)
-----
SMALL (5.2 MB)
After an earlier technical
problem is resolved, Michael is able to
report on the rash of church bombings in Baghdad
today.
TOM
FOREMAN: We're following the news out of Iraq about
the bombings of six churches in a 24-hour period. As
promised, we have gotten CNN's Michael Ware back in
Baghdad. Michael, what can you tell us about all
this?
MICHAEL WARE, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well,
Tom, what I can tell you is that in the last three
hours or so, there's been five targeted bombings of
Christian churches here in the capital, Baghdad,
roughly around the time of Sunday evening services.
There was also an additional bombing late last night
at St. Joseph's church here in Iraq. But,
fortunately, because of the late hour, no one was
there.
The tragic news, Tom, is that in this evening's five
bombings, at least four people have been reported
killed and 32 wounded.
Now, we're seeing continued spasms of violence here
in Iraq as Al Qaeda and its allies maintain their
bombing campaigns. But this evening, this is very
clearly targeted at what little remains of Iraq's
Christian community.
Now, attacks on the Christians have been underway
since at least 2004. And whilst no one has an exact
figure, it's believed of Iraq's estimated original 1
million Christians, most have fled the country in the
wake of the violence targeting their communities.
Indeed, just October last year, in the northern city
of Mosul, it's believed as many as 1,000 Christian
families had to flee for their lives across Iraq's
borders after Muslim extremists threatened them with
death or conversion to Islam.
So in a nutshell, six more bombings of Christian
churches in the last 24 hours here in the capital.
Four people killed, and the onslaught against the
Christian community here in Iraq clearly continues --
Tom?
FOREMAN: Michael, you and I have been talking for
years now about the notion that when troops pulled
out, there might be a realignment again of people
pushing for power, trying to make sure that certain
groups did not get any power.
Is this what we have been talking about all these
years, or is this simply a continuation of what's
been going on?
WARE: Well, the bombings themselves are a
continuation of what's been going on.
I mean, if you remember, as I said, the Christians
have been targeted for years. Under America's watch,
hundreds of thousands of Christians had to leave Iraq
for fear of their lives.
Minority groups, minority religious groups have been
targeted. The most devastating attack of all was
against a minority sect known as the Yezidis, where
as many as 500 people were killed in one coordinated
attack alone.
So to some degree, this does not reflect the handover
from American to Iraqi command. The jockeying for
power, the positioning and the maneuvering, that,
nonetheless, continues unabated. But so far we've not
seen that translate to violence on the streets. And
one would hope that we won't see it do so, Tom, at
least until next year's election and we test how the
losers of that ballot will respond to whatever defeat
they may suffer -- Tom?
FOREMAN: And quickly here, Michael, what about the
bigger picture right now? It's been almost two weeks
now since the U.S. troops moved out of the cities. Is
that going well? Is that going poorly? What do you
think?
WARE: Well, the withdrawal itself had been under way
for six months. It began in January last year. As a
military maneuver, a military redeployment, it was on
its face entirely successful. The troops were
withdrawn in an orderly manner.
The violence, nonetheless, was happening in the last
days of the American-led phase of this war, and the
violence continues in the beginning days of the
Iraqi-led phase of this war.
I think the world forgets two things. One, there are
still 130,000 American troops in Iraq even though
they're not actively engaged in combat operations at
the moment. And secondly, there's still a war going
on -- Tom?
FOREMAN: All right, many thanks, Michael. Six church
bombings in the past 24 hours, the latest news out of
there.