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Iraq's besieged Christians weigh taking up arms, fleeing into exile
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Leaders of the ever-dwindling Christian population in Iraq say bombings of their churches and attacks against their communities may force them to take up guns.

Two more churches were bombed in Mosul last week, the latest attacks, and some Christians say extremist Muslims are terrorizing them with the intent of ousting them and seizing their houses and belongings.

Iraq is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, made up largely of ethnic Assyrians, an ancient people who speak a modern form of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. But as the turmoil increases, hundreds of Christian families are leaving each week for exile in Syria and Turkey.

Some Christians have called for the establishment of a "safe haven" in Iraq's north, where they would be protected by special Iraqi army units. Others are threatening to add a Christian militia to Iraq's already militarized society.

"Assyrians need security, so we need a legal army within the Iraqi army to protect ourselves," said Michael Benjamin, a leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

Said another Assyrian leader, Yonadem Kanna, "We do not want to transform our movement into a militia, but if we need to we can arm more than 10,000 people."

Christians are only a sliver of Iraq's population, but their leaders argue that driving them from Iraq would make it unlikely Iraq could ever develop into a nation that values religious pluralism and tolerance. Estimates of how many Christians have left Iraq in recent months range from 10,000 to 40,000 people....

...Many Christians have collaborated with U.S. forces, hoping that Iraq will become a democratic and free secular state. Their links to Americans, often as translators, have put them under threat. Some anti-U.S. Sunni Muslims warn that anyone aiding the Americans should be killed, or even beheaded. ...

... "The Christians have no future here," said Athnaiel Isaac, a 23-year-old deacon in Baghdad. "We may be under the same pressures that made the Jews leave Iraq (following World War II)."...

...Ironically, many Christians are facing worse times than under Saddam Hussein's secular regime. Saddam viewed Christians as non-threatening and elevated a Christian, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, as the public face of his regime. But he also barred Christians from building new churches and kept strict controls on them.

Following Saddam's ouster last year, many Christians were heartened by an interim constitution that guaranteed basic religious freedom.

But as violence increased, including kidnappings of some rich Christians and beheadings of others who worked for the U.S. military, some Assyrians demanded creation of a "safe haven" in land currently governed autonomously by Iraqi Kurds....