Following the devastating mess that the Biden administration left in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, many are wary that the same will happen in Iraq.
According to Bloomberg, U.S. military presence in Iraq is a "necessary condition for a number of interlocking American objectives." These objectives include protecting its Middle Eastern allies, preventing the resurgence of the Islamic State, and staving off the influence of Iran.
But many are worried that President Joe Biden may decide to withdraw U.S. troops in Iraq as the Biden administration appears to be on the path to demolish what it has tagged as "forever wars," ending the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan and now, the 18-year occupation of Iraq.
"Will Afghanistan's scenario repeat in Iraq?" was the headline of two programs of television channels in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, namely Rudaw and NRT, as per Voice Of America.
According to the report, minority Kurds in Iraq and Syria who believe that the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq are "essential for their protection" are now pondering their fate in the event that the coalition forces leave the country. It is also a major concern for Christians and other religious minorities in the country.
According to Faithwire, religious freedom experts are warning of the risks of heightened persecution once President Biden orders U.S. troops to evacuate Iraq at the end of the year. Religious freedom watchdogs are already sounding the alarm about how the situation in Afghanistan may be repeated in Iraq once the U.S. troops leave.
The Congress of Christian Leaders president Rev. Johnnie Moore, who is also the former commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, together with conservative media figure Glenn Beck are warning Christians in the Middle East of the potential risk for heightened persecution in the event of a U.S. pullout.
"Should we be trying to convince those people [to] get out right now. Is this a time for a clarion call for all Christians in the Middle East?" Beck asked Moore in an interview, a part of which he shared on Twitter.
"I'm always hesitant to say 'Get out right now,'" Moore replied. "But these are decisions for these people to make."
Moore added, "But I'm telling you, if I were sitting there in northern Iraq, watching the exact same people in Washington, D.C. do the exact same thing with another country..."
Moore also reminded listeners how just weeks ago in July, President Biden expressed how "he wants all of the U.S. soldiers out of Iraq too, by the end of the year." The Congress of Christian Leaders president warned, "So if I'm a Christian or Yazidi or another threatened community sitting in Iraq, yeah I would be getting out of there as quickly as I could."
"...if you thought ISIS was bad, you haven't seen anything yet," Moore said.
Rev. @JohnnieM joins me with a WARNING for Christians in the Middle East as Biden plans to withdraw from Iraq too:
"if you thought ISIS was bad, you haven't seen anything yet." pic.twitter.com/I4ntzgsOMx
"” Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) September 9, 2021
Moore added that there is a great possibility of seeing the Afghanistan mishap "all over again" in Iraq and warned that ISIS is more terrible now than five or six years ago. Vatican News reported that the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church Cardinal Luis Raphael Sako noticed how the West is "not aware of the fears and difficulties that Christians are facing in the Middle East."
During the International Eucharistic Congress, the persecution of Christians was an essential theme ahead of Pope Francis' visit to Hungary. Cardinal Sako underscored how in 2014, 120,000 Christians escaped Iraq's Islamist militants overnight. None of them stayed behind to convert to Islam.
He also recounted how 48 people were murdered while attending mass in Baghdad, including two priests who he knew personally. The priests asked the Islamic militants to take their lives instead of the worshipers, but they saw no mercy and executed them all.
The same may happen if the Biden administration decides on a full pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. Cardinal Sako lamented that Christian persecution is still a part of church life in countries in the Middle East.
Watch Glenn Beck's conversation with Rev. Johnnie Moore and "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani below:
