Iraqi Christians, for example, are frequently the target of kidnappings for ransom because they often own small businesses. Moreover, this minority group suffers from assassination of its religious leaders, bombings and destruction of churches, and death threats meant to force Christians from their homes - abuses all acknowledged by the USCIRF.
"The United States has no policies designed to protect or rescue them (religious minorities)," Shea wrote. "Worse, it has carried out policies heedless of their effect on Iraq's most vulnerable."
As a result, Iraqi Christians - mostly Assyrians or Chaldeans who are some of the oldest Christian communities in the world - have been forced to flee Iraq in droves.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates Christians make up nearly half of the refugees fleeing Iraq although they compose only three per cent of the country's population.
About four million of Iraq's 26 million people have fled the country since the 2003 US-led offensive, according to the UNHCR.
"The situation is more than desperate," testified the Rev Canon Andrew White before USCIRF in July. White is the vicar of the 1,300-member St George's Anglican Church in Baghdad which organises an interfaith reconciliation effort sponsored by the Pentagon.
"The Coalition has failed the Christians. We have done nothing to support the Christian community or the increased Christian suffering," lamented White, who is from England.
The Anglican priest emphasised that violence against Christians is increasing "all the time", citing that 36 of his own congregants were kidnapped in July alone and only one returned.
"It is in America's national and moral interests to help Iraq's Christians and other non-Muslims," advised Shea in her column. "The most vulnerable must be given asylum. We must also help those determined to stay."
The White House will give a formal report on Iraq to Congress by September 15 to try to persuade US lawmakers to continue funding the Iraq war.
