Obama’s war on the Christian religion, particularly the Catholic variety, has claimed another casualty in the Middle East. The Vatican confirmed that “Syrian priest François Murad was killed in Gassanieh, in northern Syria, in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land where he had taken refuge.… According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.”
A graphic video of unknown origin- linked below- shows a crowd of Islamic militants gathered in a circle around three men kneeling on the ground. Many of the onlookers were shooting video of the scene from cell phones and other devices.
Each of the kneeling men, in turn, is forced to the ground and their head is sawed off with a butcher knife.
It’s scene that has become too familiar across the globe.
According to sources familiar with Jabhat al-Nusra, they are one of the most violent of the rebel Syrian factions, with roots in the Iraqi civil war, where they fought American soldiers. They are also very successful, controlling large portion of Syria.
And, oh yeah, they are part of the Al Qaida network taking orders from Iraq.
"Let us pray," writes the Custos of the Holy Land Pierbattista Pizzaballa OFM according to Catholic Online "so that this absurd and shameful war ends soon and that the people of Syria can go back to living a normal life." Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, titular head of the Syrian Catholic church said: "The whole story of Christians in the Middle East is marked and made fruitful by the blood of the martyrs of many persecutions. Lately, father Murad sent me some messages that clearly showed how conscious he was of living in a dangerous situation, and offered his life for peace in Syria and around the world."
Thanks President Nobel for helping him out, although, I’m not sure Father Murad really needed your assistance.
So why exactly are we arming Islamic extremists across the Middle East?
Explain to me just how spreading arms and radical ideas even further into the region are in the best interest of the United States and its allies.
I’m not a big fan of Syrian president Assad, but it seems to me that there is little to choose from in Syria. Actually, this is a great opportunity to get Syria to behave better.
Make no mistake either: This war won’t be a pushover like Libya was.
Syria isn’t an isolated Libya. The current Syrian government will get the weapons it needs from Russia to fight the insurgents, because Russia has the means to keep the supply lines open.
One reason why Russia has the means is because as the West pushed harsher terms to Cyprus during their banking crisis this year, Cyprus sought relief from disaster by striking a deal with Moscow.
Those discussions are ongoing.
“On Monday Defence Minister Fotis Fotiou confirmed that recent defence talks with Moscow had centred on a request by Moscow for the use of sea and air facilities on the island,” reported the Cyprus Mail on June 30th. “Russia has been using Limassol port for refueling and supplies its naval vessels for over a year.”
Cyprus has long been subject to divisions between Greek Christianity and Middle East Islam.
In 1974, Turkey, an Islamic country, invaded Cyprus and continues to occupy a large slice of the island. It’s a bone of contention for Greece and Greek Cypriots still.
As a counterpoise, it would appear that Russia is attempting, with some success, to set itself up as a guarantor of the Christian population in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
“If Cyprus proves to be better off with Russia's financial, political and strategic backing than Greece with the assistance of the European Union,” predicted Gatestone Online last year, “the close relations between the Greeks and the Cypriots might convince Greece that it, too, should turn to Moscow rather than to Brussels for financial and economic help. A strategic realignment in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East might then be in the offing. If the EU and NATO keep regarding the pro-Islamic government in Turkey as their preferred ally, before they know it they might be confronted with an alliance of Russia, Cyprus and Greece – a strong Christian-Orthodox axis against the Turks. And whom would this alliance target after that? “
Who indeed? Almost anyone, since Obama has made a mess of things.
U.S. foreign policy is a disaster and Syria is just the latest symptom.
If I told you 30 years ago that the United States in 30 years would be arming Islamic rebels against Christian populations with Russia acting as benefactors to Christianity, you would have called me crazy.
And crazy is the only way to describe it.
We live in a political world where Chinese communists lecture our country about the virtues of capitalism and the limits of socialism and Russia warns our government about spying on U.S. citizens- while Russian warnings that we are harboring Islamic terrorists go ignored.
In this country Obama has all but declared war on Christians, especially Catholics. Many Catholics have allied with Obama in the mistaken belief that the government's war on capitalism won't spread to a war on religion.
Obama doesn't just want government to replace the banks, however, but the church as well. He can't have another alms-giver out there competing with the government, like Catholic Health Services, competes with Obamacare.
"I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square,” said Chicago Cardinal Francis George. “His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."
And Obama’s giving it a Russian face.
Oh, how Nobel of him.
CAUTION: THIS LINK CONTAINS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC MATERIAL NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE. IF YOU ARE OVER 18 AND AGREE, YOU CAN CLICK HERE.
H/T to Bob Beauprez for the video.