The indigenous Assyrians, Yezidis and the other smaller groups in Iraq were jubilant listening to U.S. President Bush explain the objectives behind the 2003 war on Iraq, promising to end the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein and securing freedom for all Iraqi people, regardless of their ethnicity or religious belief. It did not take long before the Assyrians began witnessing a genocide and yet another betrayal (the first was that promise made by of the British post World War I) when the U.S. deserted the indigenous Assyrians and Yezidis and surrendered to the demands of the Shi'a Arabs and the Kurds. The continuous attacks on the Christians in Iraq and bombing of churches started in 2004 and intensified through 2011. In 2014, ISIS invaded the Assyrian and Yezidi towns in northern Iraq and caused a new tragedy and genocide while the Kurds and Shi'a strengthened their positions in the new Iraq.