Amidst the daily reports of refugees fleeing the “killing fields,” beheadings, mass murder of Christians and more, one critical factor is missed.
A solution.
One million Assyrian Christians are not going to immigrate to America, Europe, Australia or elsewhere.
At the same time, it is clear they can no longer live where they have as the persecution has become so intense.
So what is the solution?
First proposed in 1998 by then-Sen. Joseph Biden and dubbed “The Biden Plan,” the proposal is powerful in its simplicity.
Going to Iraq multiple times during his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, current Vice President Biiden began to see a pattern in Iraq.
While one country, there was a dramatic difference in the culture and worldview of the regions.
The south, dubbed “Shiastan,” is effectively another country.
While the people are Arab, it functions as a part of Iran. Iin many places Iranian money is used, and the generally uneducated Shia are extremely religiously oriented and generally prefer a religious state.
Next is “Sunnistan,” comprising the middle of the country.
This area comprises the secular, modern Iraq of Baghdad and the business and elite class of Iraqis that made Baghdad at one time akin to a European city.
The third area envisioned in “The Biden Plan” is “Kurdistan” to the northeast.
Literally a “boom town,” Kurdistan already functions as a de facto country. Kurdish is the official language, as is the history and worldview.
Finally, there is “Assyria” – the historic area of Iraq populated by the Assyrians, the original people of Iraq and the first Christian nation in history.
“The Biden Plan” envisions a simple federal republic made up of four regions – Shiastan, Sunnistan, Kurdistan and Assyria, self-governed but still joined in a federal republic.
So different are the various regions that each needs to be self-governed if they are to stay together.
At the same time, each is not strong enough economically to survive on its own, thus the federated republic.
As Iraq seems to spin out of control, a new set of voices are calling for “The Biden Plan” as the only solution going forward to save the whole.
While there remains crucial issues of degree of self-government, the mode of federalism and a set of principles to guide the various regions as they participate together in Parliament, it is clear that other than the collapse of Iraq, it is the only viable plan going forward.
Under the plan already approved by the Iraqi president, prime minister, foreign minister and others, the Assyrian Regional Government once stood up would be able to absorb the nearly 1 million Assyrian Christian refugees who as Christians would not have to live under Islamic law and would administer their own internal affairs.
In a day and age where the complicated seems to reign, “The Biden Plan” may very well be the answer, as simple as it is to a very complicated situation.
For the Americans, at least, the deaths of 4,888 of their bravest, injury to 32,000 and 2.5 million who served are owed some measure of success.
“The Biden Plan” has at least a fighting chance for a future for a new Iraq.
Those interested in helping the nearly 200,000 Assyrian Christians refugees can do so at buck4good.com.
