President Trump was right. He took credit in the State of the Union for a quick, decisive end of the war against ISIS. That happened because he made the right decision. He armed the Syrian Democratic Forces, including the Kurdish YPG. They accomplished in a few months what Obama couldn’t or wouldn’t. The key to that victory? Ignoring America’s “frenemy” Turkey, which screamed that the YPG were “terrorists.” That was rich, coming from Turkey — which aided ISIS for years. Which still works with al Qaeda and other bloodthirsty Islamists.

But Trump left something out. Namely, the fact that America’s allies of yesterday are now being slaughtered. Those who helped ISIS (the Turks) are killing America’s friends who defeated that brutal group. See below the link to the video of the attack taken two days ago, on the front lines:

10 civilians injured, a 9-year-old child killed in invading #Turkish army’s shelling on civilian settlements in #Afrin city center. Footage from Ashrafiyyah district, January 31. pic.twitter.com/c4f2H6JGvU

— Rojava Defense Units | YPG (@DefenseUnits) January 31, 2018

As John Zmirak wrote:

It’s a blessing that so few U.S. soldiers had to die in the fight against ISIS. But it’s not a miracle. It’s the fruit of Trump’s prudent choice to ally with the freedom-loving Kurdish people. Now is not the moment to betray them. Or the next fight that rolls around, thousands of American soldiers will fight and die instead.

Targeting Civilians

Finally world media have started reporting on this savage and unprovoked attack. Turkey is bombarding civilian targets deliberately. Hitting neighborhoods far from the frontlines with airstrikes. Hospitals are filling up with wounded women and children. On Wednesday, the NATO-armed Turkish air force bombed two villages of the helpless Yazidis. Remember them? They were the group that ISIS singled out, taking its women as sex slaves. Now Turkey is bombing them, too.

An Official Jihad

Make no mistake: This is an Islamist jihad. Don’t take it from me. The Speaker of the Turkish parliament said so. So did the president of the powerful Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The Turkish government hasn’t corrected them. Why should they? Turkey is openly working with al Qaeda terrorists to wage this jihad.

The Christians of the region face a death sentence if al Qaeda marches in. But they are standing firm. On February 1 local pastors announced that they will not flee. Their churches’ doors will stay open. Their leader, Pastor Diyar stated: “When these gangs come they will first of all kill the Christians. They will kill our brothers and sisters.” He asked again for the support and prayers of the Christian community worldwide: “Please pray for Afrin in your Sunday services.”

Here is glimpse from a recent service among Kurdish Christians, praying for deliverance from the jihadis a few miles away who threaten to kill them as “apostates”:
 

Kurdish Christian Praying for Deliverance from The Stream on Vimeo.

The Least of Our Brothers

What must these converts think of their brothers and sisters in the West if we stay silent?

Not all Christians will. The weakest Christian community in the world is stepping up to fight. Christian militias that defended their communities against ISIS are now volunteering to fight this new jihad. The brave soldiers of the Syriac Military Council are leaving their homes to join the front lines against Turkey. I know some of these brave men. I wonder if I will ever see their faces again. Maybe not in this life.  

Will Christians in the US be put to shame by the most beleaguered and persecuted Christian community in the world?  Will they stay silent as Turkey and al Qaeda finish what ISIS started? Is that what converts from Islam deserve from their fellow Christians?

Call the President

I pray that they don’t. That they follow their duty, and contact President Trump. Tell him he cannot allow this jihad slaughter of U.S. allies to go on. All it would take is a clear statement from the President that he won’t let Turkish jets bomb civilian targets. Then he could move a few U.S. soldiers closer to the front lines. And the Turks would fold like a cheap tent. Their third-rate army could go back to its primary task: repressing civilian protests.   

President Trump can be a hero again, and assert U.S. influence in the region. He can stick up for faithful allies and protect religious minorities from genocide. But he needs to know that American Christians are aware of this new jihad. And that you won’t stand for it.