What a condemnation of America on every level. First it led the attack and war on Iraq. Then, it "used" countless Iraqis in all manner of ways (such as as interpreters) followed by creating exiles and the displacement of people - and last but not least, effectively now doing nothing to assist in the plight of Iraqi refugees.
truthout reports:
"Five years ago the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the Iraqi refugee crisis as "the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948."
Not much has changed at the end of 2012, a year after US forces pulled out of Iraq. "Some one million people remain displaced throughout the country, of whom hundreds of thousands live in dire conditions," the UNHCR recently noted. "Most are unable to return to their areas of origin because of the volatile security situation, the destruction of their homes, or lack of access to services."
More than 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, where many subsist in designated resettlement areas. The United Nations reports that women are increasingly forced to resort to prostitution. Child labor has become a scourge. In Syria, more than 30 percent of Iraqi children are without schooling.
Yet while the United States had a direct hand in creating the exodus by invading and occupying that country for nearly a decade, spurring a civil war between religious groups, it is now more or less washing its hands of the refugee problem. Since 2007, the US has admitted a mere 64,000 asylum seekers - a pittance compared to the millions displaced -- and the number of refugees admitted has been going steadily down since 2010.
As of 2011, more than 30,000 Iraqis have applied for a Special Immigrant Visa, specifically created by Congress to expedite their cases, but to date only about 4,000 have been processed, and over one-third have been denied.
Perhaps the real problem has more to do with politics: Accepting Iraqi refugees would be akin to America admitting defeat in the aftermath of its efforts to pacify Iraq and the region. Former president George W. Bush prematurely declared Iraq a country of "freedom" and "democracy," while President Obama, as a candidate in 2008, acknowledged that alleviating the Iraqi refugee crisis was America's "moral obligation."
"The Iraqis who stood with us are being targeted for assassination, yet our doors are shut. That is not how we treat our friends," candidate Obama declared. Alas, President Obama has done essentially nothing to abate the crisis since then.
Over a thousand translators who once worked for American military forces and British armies, and foreign journalists -- not to mention those hired by US companies doing reconstruction and those working in the Green Zone -- have been targeted and killed by various insurgent groups. Those who survived and remain are now living lives exponentially imperiled by the pullout of US forces."
truthout reports:
"Five years ago the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the Iraqi refugee crisis as "the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948."
Not much has changed at the end of 2012, a year after US forces pulled out of Iraq. "Some one million people remain displaced throughout the country, of whom hundreds of thousands live in dire conditions," the UNHCR recently noted. "Most are unable to return to their areas of origin because of the volatile security situation, the destruction of their homes, or lack of access to services."
More than 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, where many subsist in designated resettlement areas. The United Nations reports that women are increasingly forced to resort to prostitution. Child labor has become a scourge. In Syria, more than 30 percent of Iraqi children are without schooling.
Yet while the United States had a direct hand in creating the exodus by invading and occupying that country for nearly a decade, spurring a civil war between religious groups, it is now more or less washing its hands of the refugee problem. Since 2007, the US has admitted a mere 64,000 asylum seekers - a pittance compared to the millions displaced -- and the number of refugees admitted has been going steadily down since 2010.
As of 2011, more than 30,000 Iraqis have applied for a Special Immigrant Visa, specifically created by Congress to expedite their cases, but to date only about 4,000 have been processed, and over one-third have been denied.
Perhaps the real problem has more to do with politics: Accepting Iraqi refugees would be akin to America admitting defeat in the aftermath of its efforts to pacify Iraq and the region. Former president George W. Bush prematurely declared Iraq a country of "freedom" and "democracy," while President Obama, as a candidate in 2008, acknowledged that alleviating the Iraqi refugee crisis was America's "moral obligation."
"The Iraqis who stood with us are being targeted for assassination, yet our doors are shut. That is not how we treat our friends," candidate Obama declared. Alas, President Obama has done essentially nothing to abate the crisis since then.
Over a thousand translators who once worked for American military forces and British armies, and foreign journalists -- not to mention those hired by US companies doing reconstruction and those working in the Green Zone -- have been targeted and killed by various insurgent groups. Those who survived and remain are now living lives exponentially imperiled by the pullout of US forces."
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