Christian genocide officially acknowledged by Congress

Secretary of State John Kerry met the congressional deadline to decide ISIS is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in both Iraq and Syria.

On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry decided that yes, Christians and other minorities are victims of genocide in the Middle East at the hands of ISIS militants.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Humanitarians rejoice! The West has finally acknowledged what so many groups have been trying to say. Christians are slowly being eradicated from Iraq and Syria.

Earlier last week a 278-page report documenting Christian genocide was released. Since then, United States officials have formally come to the conclusion that ISIS really is determined to eradicate the religious minorities.

After passing a nonbinding resolution by a 393-0 vote, Kerry declared, "In my judgement Daesh (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in territory under its control. ... One element of genocide is the intent to destroy an ethnic or religious group in whole or in part.

"Its entire world view is based on eliminating those who do not subscribe to its perverse ideology. The fact is that Da'esh kills Christians because they are Christians, the Yazidis because they are Yazidis, [and] Shia because they are Shia."

Kerry then listed several incidents ISIS was responsible for including the decimation of religiously historic buildings, executions and even threats.

Though America has formally declared Christian genocide, little will change between ISIS militants and the American air and ground forces in the Middle East.

"Daesh is genocidal by self-acclimation, by ideology and by practice," Kerry stated, then added  he was "neither judge nor prosecutor nor jury" and specified any criminal charges against ISIS members will be handed down by independent international investigations while the United States would not change its efforts to collect evidence and document incidents against humanity.

Regardless of Kerry's statement, Jeff Fortenberry, the author of the House bill, released a statement in which he hoped America's acknowledgement will encourage other nations to "end the scandal of silence, and create the preconditions for the protection and reintegration of these ancient faith communities into their ancestral homelands."

Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated Kerry "is finally making the right call," then called for U.S. President Barack Obama to "step up" his plans to defeat ISIS.

Obama's administration has a history of failing to attack ISIS with as much aggression as the terrorist situation warrants.

Since Kerry's declaration of genocide in Iraq and Syria, Obama has yet to release a statement concerning the fight against ISIS or whether the genocide label will be of any difference to his administration.

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