Building on Momentum: The Case for a Safe Haven

Building on Momentum: The Case for a Safe Haven

By Scott A Morgan, Special to ASSIST News Service (Writer’s Opinion)

WASHINGTON, DC (October 6, 2016) -- We all saw earlier this year how the American people took to social media platforms to lobby their members of Congress and the State Department how they felt about the treatment of Religious Minorities in Northern Iraq. They felt that “Genocide” was taking place and they wanted the US Government to refer to it as such and to deal with it.

So when, on March 17th, Secretary of State Kerry announced that “Genocide” was in fact occurring in Northern Iraq there was a sense that finally the Administration saw what was in the view of some people a situation that was obvious. A damning report compiled by the Knights of Columbus was specifically released to take advantage of the growing momentum online.

Guess What? That was the easy part. The actual hard part is yet to begin for these victims of persecution. Defining the issue is just the first step. Coming up with an effective strategy that will assist those in flight will result in emotional decisions about whether or not they should be allowed to come to the West. However there is no debate at all about how to assist those who wish to remain in their homes.

That brings into question how to assist those who remain behind to defend their homes and houses of worship? This is where the concept of a Safe Haven comes into play. There are several other questions that are easy to answer but will more difficult to implement that will come into play. The easy answers are that it should be in the Nineveh Plain and it should look like “Operation Provide Comfort” which has been protecting the Kurds since 1992.

The Congress has been paying attention to all of these wheels that are currently in motion. They have noticed these vile actions that have been occurring and they are aware that the voter is paying attention to this as well. So there has been introduced in recent weeks H Con Res 152.

This resolution which has been introduced into the House by Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska (R) gives a sense that the United States and the International Community should support Iraq and its people to support a province in the Nineveh Plain region that is consistent with the lawful expressions of self-determination by the indigenous peoples of the region. That is a noble sentiment in thought but implementation may be more difficult when people ask how the US will accomplish this with Aid and votes.

However politics in Baghdad has once again reared its ugly head into this debate. Earlier this week in Baghdad voted not to change the administrative border of Nineveh Province. The impetus for the vote was that the Yezidis want to have the area around the city of Shingal where they have a majority status. A Sunni Member of Parliament for the region states that any such decision would be unconstitutional. There is a consensus that the Shia followers of Al-Malaki want to return him to power so he can accomplish this.

The Kurds however announced their intentions to make the area around Shingal (Sinjar), a province within Kurdistan. [Shingal (Sinjar) in Kurdish, is both the name of a town and a district in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is close to Mount Sinjar and near the border of Syrian Kurdistan. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 88,023 and is home to a large population of Yazidis, with Arab and Assyrian minorities.)

Meanwhile the Christians feel that if they are forced to remain in a region under Sunni rule they will still be the victims of persecution. The Assyrians have reached out to Washington to ensure that their voices are heard in this debate. They are being heard in Washington. Now can these voices in the US reach out to Baghdad? H Con Res 152 will give Baghdad an Idea of what Congress is thinking.

Photo captions: 1) Christians in Iraq. 2) Assyrian Christians hold a protest. 3) Scott A. Morgan.

About the writer: Scott A. Morgan has been the President of Red Eagle Enterprises since its inception in November 2012. He uses his experience from serving in the U.S. Marines during the Reagan Administration, attending college for Criminal Justice, Advocacy for Human Rights with Amnesty International and Writing to come up with an interesting matrix and business model. Currently based in Washington, DC he specializes in US Policy towards Africa focusing on Security, Assymetrical Operations and Business Development South of the Sahara. His Blog Confused Eagle can be found at confusedeagle.livejournal.com. His webpage can be found at: http://morganscott251.wix.com/redeagleenterprises.

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