WASHINGTON -- Since the June 30 withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq's urban centers, the level of violence in Iraqi cities has risen sharply. For almost six years, Iraq's Chaldo-Assyrian Christians have been caught in the eye of this violent storm.

On Aug. 19, truck bombs in Baghdad, killing almost 100 and wounding some 600, prompted Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni to tell Catholic News Service that "we are losing everything