When it comes to Iraq, the concern of most Americans is the ending of our military involvement in the Middle Eastern country and bringing U.S. troops home. This concern is understandable in light of seven years of war, the loss of many lives and the tremendous investment we have made in Iraq to bring about security and to foster democracy.

But as our military involvement in Iraq winds down, there is another issue that needs to be addressed. This is the plight of Christians and other religious minorities — many of whom have fled Iraq over the past seven years because they fear for their lives.

This issue was highlighted in the past month or so with appeals by religious leaders — including Pope Benedict XVI — for the Iraqi government to do a better job of protecting the Christian minority. Following recent killings of Christians in Mosul, Pope Benedict appealed to civil authorities in Iraq to provide security to “the most vulnerable Christian minorities,” and he urged the international community to help Iraq build “a future of reconciliation and justice.”

In the United States, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, asked the Obama administration to ensure that the Iraqi government takes steps to protect Christians and other minorities.

“We ask that the U.S. government convey to the Iraqi government its strong concern for the need to provide security for all Iraqis and to protect the human dignity of all minorities, especially Christians,” Bishop Hubbard wrote in a March 1 letter to National Security Advisor Gen. James L. Jones.

There have been other appeals to both the Iraqi government and the U.S. government by such organizations as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. In its last two annual reports, the commission has listed Iraq as one of the “countries of particular concern” regarding violations of religious freedom. These are countries (13 were listed in the 2009 report) whose governments have engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe” violations of religious freedom.

“The religious freedom situation in Iraq remains grave, particularly for the smallest, most vulnerable religious minorities,” including Christians, the commission said in its 2009 report. And since 2006, the report noted, there have been “alarming numbers of religiously-motivated killings, abductions, beatings, rapes, threats, intimidation, forced resettlements and attacks on religious leaders, pilgrims and holy sites.”

One of the reasons this commission was created by Congress was to draw our government’s attention to countries that engage in or tolerate violations of religious liberty so that promotion of religious freedom can be an integral part of U.S. foreign policy in relations with those nations. The 2009 commission report lists a half dozen pages of recommendations for U.S. policy to address the plight of Iraq’s religious minorities.

The plight of Christians in Iraq can be seen in the steep decline in the numbers of Christians in the country — many of whom have fled to neighboring countries. The 2009 religious freedom commission’s report said Christians have decreased from about 1.4 million in 2003, when the Iraq war began, to 500,000 to 700,000 today. Aid to the Church in Need, a charity that helps suffering and persecuted Christians, puts the number today at about 300,000.

Some religious leaders have predicted a new wave of Christians fleeing Iraq because of recent killings and other acts of violence. “It’s very difficult to live in this kind of situation,” said Chaldean Archbishop Emil Shimoun Nona of Mosul.

“It is panic — panic always,” he said. “The Christians don’t know what will happen to them. It is the same everywhere — in the office, at school or even at home. They don’t know if somebody is going to kill them.”

Christians have lived in Iraq for 2,000 years, but their continued presence in their homeland is seriously threatened. It is the primary task of the present Iraqi government to guarantee their security. But the United States also has a responsibility to influence the government to protect the country’s religious minorities.

Our country has invested a great deal in promoting freedom and democracy in Iraq. These will be hollow concepts if Iraq fails to guarantee for its minority populations one of the most fundamental freedoms — religious liberty.