Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit August 22, 2006, 04-1820 (Steeve Shamoil Youkhana v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States)

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Steeve Shamoil Youkhana, an Assyrian Christian, fled Iraq in 2001 and sought asylum in the United States, claiming that he had been persecuted by the ruling Ba'ath Party regime on the basis of his religion, ethnicity, and political opinion.