By Doreen Abi Raad

http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=6542

In Washington, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a watchdog agency, expressed alarm at the bombings.

A July 13 statement quoted commission chairman Leonard Leo as saying the Iraqi government “must apprehend and punish the perpetrators of this violence and must ensure that civilian property and lives, particularly of its most vulnerable citizens, are protected.”

The commission said Iraq’s small Christian community has been particularly vulnerable to violence because it does not have militia or tribal structures to protect itself and does not receive adequate official protection.