My visit to Iraq in 2016, right before the U.S. election which produced a Trump victory, was an enlightening experience. ISIS had driven out the Christian population of the region of the Nineveh Plain, where Jonah had preached, into Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014. The refugees were still in camps when I visited, as ISIS had not been defeated. The Christians in Nineveh—mainly Catholic and Orthodox Chaldeans and Syriacs—had lived there for 2,000 years, since disciples of Christ first brought the Christian faith to that land. These people were eager to return to their ancient home, even though it was later discovered that the radical Islamists had destroyed much of their specific culture, especially their churches and Christian imagery. Because of these catastrophes, the U.S. election was on everyone’s mind, even as they struggled to survive.
For the Christians in Iraq and Syria, there was one man they hoped would win: Donald Trump. I still remember a priest from Mosul in one of the camps. ISIS had used his Church as a torture centre: he repeated three times to me, “I love Drump.” They felt abandoned by the Obama administration, and believed that Trump would help them. Every time we asked who they prayed would be the next president, the answer was the same, and it was never Obama.
When their prayers were answered, the Trump administration immediately began assisting with aid and the reconstruction of Nineveh, as the caliphate was defeated. I visited the region many times during both the Obama and Trump administrations, and I was able to see what American help meant for the much-reduced number of Christians who returned home. While far from easy, the assistance made a significant difference, even as the Christian community in Nineveh suffered the new threat of the increasing control exercised by the Shia militias, or Popular Mobilization Units, controlled by Iran.
Fast forward to January 2021 and almost the first decision of the new Biden/Harris administration was to cut off all support for persecuted Christians, not only in Iraq, but across the globe, including Nigeria, where Christians are being slaughtered at a genocidal rate. LGBTQ and other progressive issues became the dominant focus in handing out aid. Christians were not just pushed to the bottom of the pile; they were not acknowledged at all.
I have returned to Iraq many times since Biden’s election, and I have seen the situation for the Christians of Nineveh continue to deteriorate. An ISIS offshoot group is beginning to strengthen. Lack of aid is forcing more and more people to emigrate, thus not only worsening the migration crisis, but continuing to empty the cradle of Christianity of its ancient people. The instability across the Middle East, especially since October 7th, is making life for Christians, always the minority with little influence, more precarious.
By far the worst problem, however, is the threat from the Iranian proxy militias in Nineveh. When I was there last year, I commented to a priest friend as I visited his town near Mosul that it was like being in an occupied country. Images and billboards of Shia soldiers and saints were everywhere, along with pictures of Iranian ayatollahs and Iranian generals. My friend remarked that my perception was reality: Christian towns in Nineveh are not only surrounded by the militias, their governments, council and local leadership, are falling increasingly under militia control.
The latest development, which is causing grave concern, is the influence of the U.S.-sanctioned leader of the Babylon Brigade militia, Rayan Al-Kildani. Although he claims to be a Christian, Al-Kildani is turning all of Nineveh into not only his personal fiefdom, but an Iranian-controlled occupied territory.
Through a campaign of bribery, corruption, and intimidation, Kildani’s group has taken control of town councils and has four of the five seats in the Iraqi parliament allocated to the Christian minority.
According to sources in Nineveh, Kildani’s militia is pursuing a policy of demographic expulsion—another description would be ethnic cleansing—by buying Christian housing and land, and selling to Shia Muslims, purchasing and supporting Shia businesses, to the detriment of local Christian businesses, even having local Imams telling their people not to use Christian shops. One source described the militia’s control of all public life, creating anxiety in the Christian community, and once again a desire for people to leave Iraq.
The ultimate purpose, apart from corruption and criminality, appears to be a Nineveh emptied of Christians, and the occupation and control of an area of Iraq by Iran, the gradual expansion of the ‘Shia crescent,’ from Tehran to Beirut.
The bizarre decision of the Biden/Harris administration to pull out all U.S. troops by 2026, appears to be both a surrender to Iranian influence, and a reward, not only for their attempt to destroy the 2,000-year-old Christian community, but also for Iranian militias bombing U.S. bases and targeting Israel.
Despite all this intimidation and bad news, many Christians have decided to stay. The Church is working on a final stable figure of around 50,000, compared to a Christian population of more than 1.2 million before the invasion in 2003. These Christians are a strong people, who have endured more than 1600 years of Islamic persecution. They will not be driven out of their homes again. They still hope, perhaps naively, that Western Christians will not only care about them, but provide practical help. However, as in 2016, after God, they have a deep hope that one person will come to their aid, and that he will not forget this ancient and brave people. That man is Donald J. Trump.
Iraq’s Christians Pray for Trump
The moon is seen behind a cross as Christians attend a celebration of the Feast of the Holy Cross in the Iraqi town of Al-Qosh, 50km north of Mosul city, on September 13, 2024. (Photo by Ismael Adnan / AFP)
My visit to Iraq in 2016, right before the U.S. election which produced a Trump victory, was an enlightening experience. ISIS had driven out the Christian population of the region of the Nineveh Plain, where Jonah had preached, into Iraqi Kurdistan in 2014. The refugees were still in camps when I visited, as ISIS had not been defeated. The Christians in Nineveh—mainly Catholic and Orthodox Chaldeans and Syriacs—had lived there for 2,000 years, since disciples of Christ first brought the Christian faith to that land. These people were eager to return to their ancient home, even though it was later discovered that the radical Islamists had destroyed much of their specific culture, especially their churches and Christian imagery. Because of these catastrophes, the U.S. election was on everyone’s mind, even as they struggled to survive.
For the Christians in Iraq and Syria, there was one man they hoped would win: Donald Trump. I still remember a priest from Mosul in one of the camps. ISIS had used his Church as a torture centre: he repeated three times to me, “I love Drump.” They felt abandoned by the Obama administration, and believed that Trump would help them. Every time we asked who they prayed would be the next president, the answer was the same, and it was never Obama.
When their prayers were answered, the Trump administration immediately began assisting with aid and the reconstruction of Nineveh, as the caliphate was defeated. I visited the region many times during both the Obama and Trump administrations, and I was able to see what American help meant for the much-reduced number of Christians who returned home. While far from easy, the assistance made a significant difference, even as the Christian community in Nineveh suffered the new threat of the increasing control exercised by the Shia militias, or Popular Mobilization Units, controlled by Iran.
Fast forward to January 2021 and almost the first decision of the new Biden/Harris administration was to cut off all support for persecuted Christians, not only in Iraq, but across the globe, including Nigeria, where Christians are being slaughtered at a genocidal rate. LGBTQ and other progressive issues became the dominant focus in handing out aid. Christians were not just pushed to the bottom of the pile; they were not acknowledged at all.
I have returned to Iraq many times since Biden’s election, and I have seen the situation for the Christians of Nineveh continue to deteriorate. An ISIS offshoot group is beginning to strengthen. Lack of aid is forcing more and more people to emigrate, thus not only worsening the migration crisis, but continuing to empty the cradle of Christianity of its ancient people. The instability across the Middle East, especially since October 7th, is making life for Christians, always the minority with little influence, more precarious.
By far the worst problem, however, is the threat from the Iranian proxy militias in Nineveh. When I was there last year, I commented to a priest friend as I visited his town near Mosul that it was like being in an occupied country. Images and billboards of Shia soldiers and saints were everywhere, along with pictures of Iranian ayatollahs and Iranian generals. My friend remarked that my perception was reality: Christian towns in Nineveh are not only surrounded by the militias, their governments, council and local leadership, are falling increasingly under militia control.
The latest development, which is causing grave concern, is the influence of the U.S.-sanctioned leader of the Babylon Brigade militia, Rayan Al-Kildani. Although he claims to be a Christian, Al-Kildani is turning all of Nineveh into not only his personal fiefdom, but an Iranian-controlled occupied territory.
Through a campaign of bribery, corruption, and intimidation, Kildani’s group has taken control of town councils and has four of the five seats in the Iraqi parliament allocated to the Christian minority.
According to sources in Nineveh, Kildani’s militia is pursuing a policy of demographic expulsion—another description would be ethnic cleansing—by buying Christian housing and land, and selling to Shia Muslims, purchasing and supporting Shia businesses, to the detriment of local Christian businesses, even having local Imams telling their people not to use Christian shops. One source described the militia’s control of all public life, creating anxiety in the Christian community, and once again a desire for people to leave Iraq.
The ultimate purpose, apart from corruption and criminality, appears to be a Nineveh emptied of Christians, and the occupation and control of an area of Iraq by Iran, the gradual expansion of the ‘Shia crescent,’ from Tehran to Beirut.
The bizarre decision of the Biden/Harris administration to pull out all U.S. troops by 2026, appears to be both a surrender to Iranian influence, and a reward, not only for their attempt to destroy the 2,000-year-old Christian community, but also for Iranian militias bombing U.S. bases and targeting Israel.
Despite all this intimidation and bad news, many Christians have decided to stay. The Church is working on a final stable figure of around 50,000, compared to a Christian population of more than 1.2 million before the invasion in 2003. These Christians are a strong people, who have endured more than 1600 years of Islamic persecution. They will not be driven out of their homes again. They still hope, perhaps naively, that Western Christians will not only care about them, but provide practical help. However, as in 2016, after God, they have a deep hope that one person will come to their aid, and that he will not forget this ancient and brave people. That man is Donald J. Trump.
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