The blood had splashed everywhere, even on the ceiling of the Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad. The terrorists had arrived dressed as security guards. Then they locked the doors and unloaded their weapons.

They were yelling “God is Great” as they slaughtered men, women and children. They killed 58 and injured 100 more that morning.

And who was responsible?
The “The Islamic State,” of course, and they did it under the orders of their newly appointed leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Yet this massacre didn’t occur in 2014 as ISIS marched from city to city, chopping off the heads of their opponents as they went. The Baghdad church massacre happened in 2010 — a full four years before ISIS had captured one contiguous piece of Iraqi and Syrian land the size of the United Kingdom.

Actually, by 2010, most Iraqi Christians had already been targeted. In fact, 40 of Baghdad’s 65 churches had been bombed, along with 60 more in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. The conflict had allowed extremists to finally rid Iraq of its ancient Christian minority, and hardly anyone noticed their systematic efforts in the fog of war.

The Christians were not dying in crossfire; they were being picked off the way a sniper stalks his target.

Read more at Iraq’s Quiet Christian Genocide. 

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