Barrow backs efforts to protect Iraqi Christians

In a letter to President George W. Bush, 12th District Georgia Congressman John Barrow (D-Savannah) recently joined together with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders urging the president to work closely with America's international allies towards "ensuring the welfare of the endangered Iraqi Christian population."

Iraq's indigenous Christian population represents the oldest surviving Christian popula- tion in the world. While they make up only five percent of Iraq's population, they've accounted for more than 40 percent of the refugees fleeing the country in recent years. During military operations in Iraq over the past four years, Iraqi Christians have been strong supporters of coalition efforts to establish a stable democratic state in Iraq.

"As a small minority within the Iraqi population, Iraqi Christians have neither a strong voice in Iraqi national politics nor the resources necessary to deter the constant harassment and violence perpetrated by radicalized ethno-religious factions surrounding them," Barrow and his colleagues wrote in the letter to President Bush. "Without a drastic improvement in the current situation, we may well witness the complete loss of the Iraqi indigenous Christian community, a community that has survived in the region for over 2,000 years."