A CHURCH IN BAGHDAD

Thanksgiving was celebrated a week early at the reopening of St. John's Assyrian Catholic Church in the al Doura district of Baghdad.  The pews were packed.

The church had been shuttered after two nearby churches were bombed in 2004.  The al Doura neighborhood had been predominantly Christian until al Qaeda began targeting Christians.  Since then, most of the Christians have fled to Syria, Jordan, or northern Iraq. 

Many pews at St. Johns that day were filled by Moslems.

"The Moslems in this neighborhood worry that other people might take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and the Christians will never come back," said Michael Yon, a former Special Forces soldier turned freelance journalist.  "And so they came back to St. John's today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said: 'Come back to Iraq.  Come home.'  They wanted the cameras to catch it.  They wanted to spread the word."

Mr. Yon, who is embedded with the 2-12 infantry battalion of the 2nd (Indianhead) Infantry Division, attended the service, as did LtCol Stephen Michael, the battalion commander, and many of his soldiers.

The service was conducted by the Most Reverend Shlemun Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Peter the Apostle diocese.

"Speaking in both Arabic and English, Bishop Warduni thanked those American soldiers sitting in the pews for their sacrifices," Mr. Yon said.  "Again and again throughout the service, he thanked the Americans."

LtCol. Michael told Mr. Yon that Moslems from the neighborhood had reached out to him to protect the Christians from al Qaeda. 

"Real Moslems here are quick to say that al Qaeda members are not true Moslems," Mr. Yon said.

Mr. Yon talked to area residents through "Ice," a young Iraqi Christian who serves as an interpreter for the 2-12.

"I asked Ice if the Moslems treat the Christians poorly in Iraq," Mr. Yon said.  "Ice said they had no problems at all until al Qaeda instigated friction between people."

The reopening of St. John's is a heartwarming story of Iraqis reaching across sectarian divisions for peace, and a powerful indicator of how much the security situation in Baghdad has improved since the troop surge began.  But apparently Mr. Yon's camera was the only one on hand to catch it.  I searched in vain for stories other than Mr. Yon's about the reopening of St. John's.

On Nov. 7 Mr. Yon took a photograph of Iraqis, Moslems as well as Christians, placing a cross atop the refurbished church.  The photo bears a startling resemblance to that of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima in 1945.   Few Americans have seen it, though Mr. Yon has offered it free of charge to all news services.

Here it is, truly symbolic of what American victory is achieving in Iraq: