The Ken Joseph Report
“I sat in stunned silence…”

By Ken Joseph Jr.
Journal of Chretien
January 8, 07

WASHINGTON, DC (ANS) — I sat in stunned silence as the program enfolded.

It was the unfolding of the Presidents plan for the future of Iraq being presented at one of Washington’s major “think tanks”, charged with putting together the new policy.

First, two experts gave their views, one, a veteran military officer, the other a well trained strategy expert days before the official announcement.

Following them, two key Senators began their discussion.

I waited and waited.

I read the report they had just produced.

There was no mention of even the name of 10% of the population of Iraq. None of their detailed maps of the city of Baghdad or the country even mentioned the people that live in broad swaths of the cities and were the original people of the country.

At the end of the program, I publicly challenged them.

“You have made no mention of 10% of the population of Iraq, the indigenous people of Iraq, the Assyrian Christians ! The Iraqi Government has recently promised them a province in their homeland. What are you going to do for them ?”

There was an embarrassed pause.

“Yes, we know. The best thing for the Assyrian Christians and all the minorities is for there to be a stable and democratic Iraq,” they mumbled in shame.

Earlier after the Iraq Study Group made its report, I had asked the same question of James Baker and Lee Hamilton, the authors of the report.

The same “Sorry – you are right – we just got so busy…”

Then I began to realize something important. The Assyrian Christians had been shut out from the discussions, the maps and all else was for two reasons.

First, they are Christians and they don’t make bombs, abuse their women and fight against the world.

Second, though and more troubling, is that nobody fights for them.

The discussion went to the Shia and the Sunni and the Kurds and on and on. They were the center of attention because they are destroying each other, have militias and push their way around.

The most important people in Iraq, the people for whom much of the world is indebted for their faith, the first Christian nation on earth, were being completely ignored.

As the program finished and the people began to leave, one man came up to me and said “You are always here like this, aren’t you ? You are doing a good job for your people. Let me know what we can do to help”

Who was it ? Was it a fellow Christian ? Was it a conservative Republican ? Was it a human right activist ?

No, it was a staffer from the Iraqi Embassy.

While we complain about human rights throughout the world, and for Christians in particular, probably the most important reason they are abused the world over is because nobody says anything or does anything about it.

Just a public word at an important meeting makes the difference.

“Turning the other cheek” is an important principle but so is “overturning the moneychangers.”

Maybe we should “overturn” some “moneychangers” this week… Ken Joseph Jr., who was born in Japan, heads up www.assyrianchristians.com