Christmas Now Official Holiday in Iraq

Christmas has come to Iraq. While Christians are a tiny minority they received a joyous gift from the Iraqi government: Christmas is nwo an official holiday. CBN News reports from Baghdad:

Iraq's Christians, a scant minority in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, quietly celebrated Christmas on Thursday with a present from the government, which declared it an official holiday for the first time.....

In his homily on Thursday, Chaldean Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly praised the establishment of Christmas as an official holiday as a step toward easing tensions.

"I thank the government for giving chances to all to serve each other for the general benefit, and I thank it too for making this day an official holiday where we pray to God to make us trust each other as brothers," he said at the Christmas Mass before several dozen worshippers in the small chapel of a Baghdad monastery.

A senior Shiite cleric, Ammar al-Hakim, attended the Mass flanked by bodyguards in a gesture of cooperation with Christians.

"I thank the visitors here and ask them to share happiness and love with their brothers on Christmas; by this they will build a glorious Iraq," the cardinal said.

Also see Christmas in Iraq

And no, the coming of Christmas to Iraq did not happen the way The Onion (Dec 17) recently described it!

Christmas Brought To Iraq By Force

BAGHDAD, IRAQ—On almost every corner in Iraq's capital city, carolers are singing, trees are being trimmed, and shoppers are rushing home with their packages—all under the watchful eye of U.S. troops dedicated to bringing the magic of Christmas to Iraq by force.

U.S. soldiers instruct an Iraqi to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas
Tags:iraqi christmas,iraq christmas holiday,u s forces iraq,the onion,

Hillary and Obama: They Actually Said This:

Hillary Clinton at the 7/23/07 Democratss debate/press conference.....

"I think it is a problem that Bush was elected in 2000. I actually thought somebody else was elected in that election, but" ...(Applause.)

Perhaps Mrs. Clinton does not remember...but The Treason Times (NY Times) reported on 11/12/01:

"A comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots from last year's presidential election reveals that George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward."

Another Times article that day by Richard L. Berke said that the...

"comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots solidifies George W. Bush's legal claim on the White House because it concludes that he would have won under the ground rules prescribed by the Democrats."

B. Hussein (Barry) Obama made the following extraordinary comment at the same Democrat function. The question was: "Would you be willing....to meet....during the first year of your administration....with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?

"....one of the first things that I would do in terms of moving a diplomatic effort in the region forward is to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria because they're going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses."

Lieberman Urges Tough Action On Iran:
On Face the Nation Today



The United States should launch military strikes against Iran if the government in Tehran does not stop supplying anti-American forces in Iraq, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday on Face The Nation.

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman told Bob Schieffer. "And to me, that would include a strike into... over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."



Audio file Here (MP3)

The New Course: Joe Lieberman Singled Out for Special Mention

"Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror. This group will meet regularly with me and my Administration, and it will help strengthen our relationship with Congress. We can begin by working together to increase the size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so that America has the Armed Forces we need for the 21st century. "
President George W. Bush; address to the nation, 1/10/07

In fact, except for Secretary Rice and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, Senator Lieberman was the only other person mentioned by name in the President's speech.

Recent TV appearance with Hagel (WMV)