April 24, 2022
Iraqi Christians want a stronger state and weaker militias
Back to Allby Hadeel Oueis, Senior Research Fellow
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Post-2003 Iraq is a vivid proof that the rule of a Shia government will not ameliorate the life of Mesopotamian Christians who have been traumatized under the reign of al-Qaeda.
The Biden administration’s intention to delist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the foreign terrorist list could have a devastating impact on the remaining Christians of Iraq, where a confident IRGC translates into a stronger leverage for militiamen in Iraq.
Post-2003 Iraq is a vivid proof that the rule of a Shia government will not ameliorate the life of Mesopotamian Christians who have been traumatized under the reign of al-Qaeda. The number of the Iraqi Christians has dwindled dramatically from 1.25 million to less than 275,000 in the last two decades.
Baghdad, which has been under the jurisdiction of the Iranian-backed Shia militias since the fall of Saddam Hussein, has lost most of its Christian population. Out of hundreds of thousands of Christians who lived in Baghdad before 2003, only a few hundred Christians remain today.