Thread: U.S. will permit more Iraqi refugees

State Department announces task force to tackle issue as critics say Bush administration 'has been slow to react'
By Warren P. Strobel
McCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - One out of every seven Iraqis has fled his or her home or sought refuge abroad, the largest movement of people in the Middle East since the war that followed Israel's creation in 1948, according to United Nations officials and relief workers. Every day, violence displaces an estimated 1,300 more Iraqis in the country; every month, at least 40,000.

Last year, 202 refugees from Iraq were allowed to resettle in the United States.

Against that backdrop, the Bush administration is moving -- belatedly, in the view of critics -- to address a problem that it is widely seen as having created by invading Iraq in March 2003.

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the creation of a high-level State Department task force on the refugee issue. State Department officials said the Bush administration will expand the number of refugees it allows into the United States, with special attention given to Iraqis who may be at risk because they worked for the U.S. government. But the administration would admit only 20,000 Iraqis at most this year.

In his just-released budget, President Bush asked for $35 million to help Iraq's refugees in fiscal year 2008, plus $15 million in supplemental funding for this year.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a private nonprofit group, had urged Bush to seek $250 million as part of a supplemental war funding request.

The Bush administration "has been slow to react to a worsening situation, amid ample warnings," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. Rice's task force, he said, "is a hopeful sign, and it can move us forward as long as it doesn't waste time pondering the obvious."

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimated in a report last month that there are as many as 2 million Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, primarily in Syria and Jordan. Another 1.7 million people are displaced within Iraq, the UNHCR said.

Some of the refugees fled during Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's reign, before the U.S. invasion. But the exodus has accelerated since the bombing of a Shiite Muslim mosque in the city of Samarra last February.

Non-governmental groups working with refugees say that outside aid cannot come fast enough, because Syria and Jordan are hinting at closing their doors. Other neighbors, such as Saudi Arabia, have accepted almost no refugees. The Saudis are building a barrier along the border with Iraq,

"In six months, it will be too late," said Kristele Younes of Refugees International, an advocacy group. "We're not seeing the U.S. do much, frankly."

Senior U.S. officials sidestepped the question of whether Washington bears special responsibility for Iraqis fleeing the violence.

"It's a shared global responsibility," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Randall Tobias, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the emphasis will remain on helping refugees in the region.

"Obviously what we're trying to do is to create circumstances to reduce the numbers of refugees who want to come to the United States or elsewhere," he said.

Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey said at a Senate hearing last month that the United States had admitted 466 Iraqi refugees since 2003. She ascribed the small number to the Department of Homeland Security's stringent security review of each applicant. She said that number could expand to as many as 20,000 this year.

State Department announces task force to tackle issue as critics say Bush administration 'has been slow to react'
By Warren P. Strobel
McCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - One out of every seven Iraqis has fled his or her home or sought refuge abroad, the largest movement of people in the Middle East since the war that followed Israel's creation in 1948, according to United Nations officials and relief workers. Every day, violence displaces an estimated 1,300 more Iraqis in the country; every month, at least 40,000.

Last year, 202 refugees from Iraq were allowed to resettle in the United States.

Against that backdrop, the Bush administration is moving -- belatedly, in the view of critics -- to address a problem that it is widely seen as having created by invading Iraq in March 2003.

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the creation of a high-level State Department task force on the refugee issue. State Department officials said the Bush administration will expand the number of refugees it allows into the United States, with special attention given to Iraqis who may be at risk because they worked for the U.S. government. But the administration would admit only 20,000 Iraqis at most this year.

In his just-released budget, President Bush asked for $35 million to help Iraq's refugees in fiscal year 2008, plus $15 million in supplemental funding for this year.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a private nonprofit group, had urged Bush to seek $250 million as part of a supplemental war funding request.

The Bush administration "has been slow to react to a worsening situation, amid ample warnings," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. Rice's task force, he said, "is a hopeful sign, and it can move us forward as long as it doesn't waste time pondering the obvious."

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimated in a report last month that there are as many as 2 million Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, primarily in Syria and Jordan. Another 1.7 million people are displaced within Iraq, the UNHCR said.

Some of the refugees fled during Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's reign, before the U.S. invasion. But the exodus has accelerated since the bombing of a Shiite Muslim mosque in the city of Samarra last February.

Non-governmental groups working with refugees say that outside aid cannot come fast enough, because Syria and Jordan are hinting at closing their doors. Other neighbors, such as Saudi Arabia, have accepted almost no refugees. The Saudis are building a barrier along the border with Iraq,

"In six months, it will be too late," said Kristele Younes of Refugees International, an advocacy group. "We're not seeing the U.S. do much, frankly."

Senior U.S. officials sidestepped the question of whether Washington bears special responsibility for Iraqis fleeing the violence.

"It's a shared global responsibility," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Randall Tobias, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the emphasis will remain on helping refugees in the region.

"Obviously what we're trying to do is to create circumstances to reduce the numbers of refugees who want to come to the United States or elsewhere," he said.

Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey said at a Senate hearing last month that the United States had admitted 466 Iraqi refugees since 2003. She ascribed the small number to the Department of Homeland Security's stringent security review of each applicant. She said that number could expand to as many as 20,000 this year.

Oh heck......let's just let everybody in.......

now correct me if I'm wrong but aren't some Iraqi's part of terrorist organization we're fighting??? And aren't we trying to figure out the good guys from the bad guys in Iraq as I type? So wouldn't it be dangerous to start bringing Iraqi's over here who just might be terrorists acting like people who " just need a better life"

Cliffdid wrote:

So wouldn't it be dangerous to start bringing Iraq's over here who just might be terrorists acting like people who " just need a better life"

Good point Seems like a no brainer does'nt it?

Originally Posted by Cliffdid

now correct me if I'm wrong but aren't some Iraqi's part of terrorist organization we're fighting??? And aren't we trying to figure out the good guys from the bad guys in Iraq as I type? So wouldn't it be dangerous to start bringing Iraqi's over here who just might be terrorists acting like people who " just need a better life"

I think the Bush/Blair administrations are the real terrorists.

So let me get this straight. We fought a war in Iraq so they can have freedom and democracy. Yet since that isn't working out so well, what the heck just let them all move in to America and have them bring their problems to our borders. This just proves that this whole war in Iraq was a complete disaster, a complete waste of money, time and man power. Instead of moving in more Iraqi refugees, why don't we outsource the Bush administration over to Iraq and let them get a huge taste of the mess they have created over there.

Just because Bush start a war, we the american taxpayers don't want to support more immigrants. How many terrorists are going to be allowed in the country because of government failure?

We fought a war in Iraq so they can have freedom and democracy

No, I believe it was because they refused to let inspectors in.

Well , The ADL has fought so hard to see that Mexicans can relocate to America , I hope they don't discriminate against these fine people just because they want to destroy Israel .

Originally Posted by Neese

We fought a war in Iraq so they can have freedom and democracy

No, I believe it was because they refused to let inspectors in.

Who knows. Bush changes his reasoning for going into Iraq like every day. First it was because of WMD's, when that was proven to be false, then he makes claims that Iraq was tied to Al Qaeda and 9/11, when that was proven to be false he goes on about how Saddam was trying to get yellow cake uranium from Iraq, when that was proven to be false then he goes on about how it was all about getting rid of Saddam so Iraq and have freedom and democracy, then he blabbed about how going into Iraq was all about fighting the terrorists. Personally I think Bush had his heart set on going into Iraq when he ran for the presidency the first time. I think he wanted to go in there to avenege what Saddam did to his dad and so he can appease Haliburton and control Iraq's oil. The guy tried to immediately tie 9/11 to Saddam without any proof. It's like he was hellbent on invading that country from the go. He thought that he could just take out Saddam and all the Iraqi's would greet us as liberators and everything was going to be peaches and cream. I don't think Bush and his cronies have one clue how the average middle eastern or Iraqi thinks.

As far as this inspectors thing. I say so what. Saddam had an agreement with the UN, not us solely. If Saddam didn't want to allow inspectors in his country and the UN as a whole didn't want to invade then that's there business. Who are we to go in their on our own when he wasn't a threat to our country? Let the UN deal with it and if they do the wrong thing then it's on them, not us. Saddam was not a threat whatsoever. He had a ragtag army which we went through like swiss cheese and the whole country barely had enough resources to feed themselves, yet through all those sanctions and constant monitoring he was going to be able to produce nukes and all that? Come on. Saddam wouldn't be dumb enough to try it because he knew that his whole country would be turned into a glass parking lot if he did. He may have been crazy, but he aint stupid. I think Saddam was once formidable back in 91, but after what we did to him and through sanctions, I think that alone really devastated that country.

Bottom line is we were lied to, to get us into this war and things are so screwed up over there, now Bush will do the only thing he knows how and that's to let them all come over here and raid us dry. Iraq is in complete shambles and this is Bush's next great plan?

Wake me up when this country gets it's backbone and common sense back.