your LETTERS noteworthy
your LETTERS noteworthy Missed Opportunity In light of our recent elections [on August 3] I would like everyone to understand the impact that losing the State Representative seat in Sterling Heights is going to have on our community. Michael Shallal did not just lose a primary election, but the community lost a chance to be known and recognized across the state. No matter how much money or how many Chaldeans we have in Michigan nothing will matter to anyone in this state unless we start making a difference locally. I encourage everyone to start promoting local politicians and get involved, not just write checks. That’s easy but to promote our community get involved. The way to start is in your own local areas. Sit on PTO boards, volunteer organizations, run for city offices and local school boards. There is not much money involved but there is a strong message that is worth more to a community than money. I sit on the Warren Consolidated Board of Education and ran for office twice before I got elected. This might not seem as significant as running for State Representative but I had opportunities that I would have never had if I did not hold this position, like opportunities to meet and speak personally to elected officials, voice my frustrations with the law and write policy that governs the schools. Without our community getting involved in local communities we do not have a chance to survive. We need our voices to speak, not just our money. Please support your community not only by writing checks but by supporting the efforts of anyone trying to make a difference. Michael Shallal should be very proud; he worked hard and ran a clean campaign. I hope he has started a wave of community members willing to take a chance and run for an office. Or maybe Michael Shallal 2012? Susan Kattula President Warren Consolidated Board of Education French Disconnection I read the August issue of the Chaldean News with much interest. In particular, I enjoyed reading the interview with young Mr. Stephane Ramo [One on One: “A Visitor from France”]. I suspect that Mr. Ramo is grateful to the French government and the people of France to welcome him and his family as refugees to their country and save them from the misery of being a displaced person. His remarks that “the French people are rude” is indelicate and should not have been included in the remarks. We can excuse the young Mr. Ramo but the editors to the article should know better than to print such a remark. This remark may come to haunt Mr. Ramo in the future. Louis Y. Corey (Kas Korkis) Nashville, TN Correction We mislabeled a picture with Christopher Younan’s guest column (“Helping Out in Haiti,” August 2010). The girl he is seen holding does not suffer from dwarfism. U.S. Army soldiers take part in the casing ceremony for 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, on August 21 in Kuwait. They are the last American combat brigade to serve in Iraq. AP photo by Maya Alleruzzo. Combat Troops Leave Iraq The last U.S. combat troops left Iraq and crossed the border into Kuwait on August 19. The ongoing combat phase of a war that left more than 4,400 American service members and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead has come to an end. On August 24, the American military said the number of American troops in Iraq has fallen below the 50,000 figure that was mandated by President Barack Obama. Under a plan by Obama, American forces in Iraq will no longer conduct what are described as combat operations. They are instead to concentrate on training Iraqi forces and helping with counterterrorism operations — if asked for by the Iraqis. Meanwhile, Iraq has gone almost half a year without a new government following the March 7 parliamentary elections. The elections failed to produce a clear winner to lead Iraq as American forces withdraw, and frequent attacks by insurgents are raising doubts about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the country in the absence of American backup. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose State of Law Coalition garnered 89 seats in the election, has been battling to retain his office. A Sunni-backed coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, who is Shiite, won 91 seats in the balloting. But in Iraq’s deeply fragmented political system that still adheres closely to sectarian politics, neither side has been able to pull together a majority coalition. American officials have said repeatedly that their decision to continue with the drawdown — despite the absence of a new government — reflects the improved security situation in recent years and their confidence in the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the country. The U.S. troop presence in Iraq has fluctuated over the years, reaching a high of about 170,000 troops in 2007 as part of the surge of forces intended to combat the insurgency and then slowly tapering off beginning in late 2008. Under the agreement between the U.S. and Iraq, all American troops must be out of Iraq by the end of next year. The troops now remaining in the country will mainly be responsible for training Iraqi security forces. The organization Iraq Body Count says that about 100,000 Iraqis have died in the war. Iraqi Politicians Resent Senate Interference While some human rights activists have hailed the U.S. Senate for its resolution that focuses on the perilous status of religious minorities in Iraq, minority representatives in Iraq’s government expressed a negative reaction. The politicians said they consider the resolution to be interference in Iraqi affairs and that the U.S. government has failed to protect the minorities. Among those expressing reservations is Chaldean Yonadam Kanna. “There is no religious conflict in Iraq because most conflicts are political,” he told Alsumaria News. Others said that all Iraqis are targeted for violence, not just religious minorities. “The war on minorities by the militias is over,” said one. Another added, “The abuses suffered by these minorities came because of interference from neighboring countries.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hailed SR 322, according to the Christian Post. “USCIRF applauds this resolution for shining a spotlight on the dire issues facing Iraq’s smallest religious minorities, issues about which USCIRF for many years has expressed concern,” said USCIRF Chair Leonard Leo in a statement. “Their future is far from secure and there is much that needs to be done.” Among other provisions, the resolutions call on the government of Iraq to direct the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights to investigate and issue a public report on abuses against and the marginalization of minority communities in Iraq and make recommendations to address such abuses. NOTEWORTHY continued on page 14 12 CHALDEAN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2010
SEPTEMBER 2010 CHALDEAN NEWS 13
