32 CHALDEAN NEWS
32 CHALDEAN NEWS AUGUST 2008
doonesbury ‘reports’ on iraqi christians Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist lampoons media coverage BY SUSAN WUNDERINK Gary B. Trudeau’s Doonesbury, which newspapers publish either with the comics or the editorial cartoons, ran a series about Iraqi Christian refugees in July. Roland (in this series a Fox News correspondent) is trying to cover the story of a Christian family in a way that is flattering for the surge. Doonesbury treats the imaginary Iraqis with a great deal of dignity. Fox News doesn’t fare so well. Fox News actually did run an Associated Press story about “Christians Fleeing Violence in Iraq” in early May, which brings up the matter of ransoms most Christians pay for “protection.” The background — not in the comic strips, although alluded to — is that Iraq’s Christians, the largest non-Muslim religious group in Iraq, are represented disproportionately in the refugee population (although it should be mentioned that the Assyrian and Chaldean diaspora dates back to World War I). It’s such a huge drain that some churches in Iraq have no members left. Christians can be identified by their names and ID cards, and they are often targeted for violence. The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) is calling it genocide. So, many Christians leave as soon as they can. Others, like the family in Doonesbury, wait until something unbearable happens. Christianity Today suggested in an editorial that U.S. and Iraqi governments should: • Stop discrimination in aid grants by naming a special aid coordinator in Iraq to ensure that Christians and other minorities receive a fair share of international assistance. • Implement the creation of a homeland for Christians in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains to be governed jointly by Christians and other minority groups. (This is provided for under article 125 of Iraq’s new constitution.) • Provide more comprehensive care for the estimated 3 million Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The United States should follow through with its commitment to resettle more refugees from Iraq. In 2006, only 202 were resettled, while a total of 20,000 had been authorized. • Remove religious affiliation from identification cards. There could hardly be an easier way to protect the lives of Christian civilians, such as Ayad Tariq, than issuing new ID cards minus religious labels. Reprinted with permission from Christianity Today (www.christianitytoday.com). DOONESBURY © 2008 G. B. TRUDEAU. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. AUGUST 2008 CHALDEAN NEWS 33
