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That sign hangs on our borders. I am not talking about our immigration policy and it’s ethics. This is the sign that hangs in the face of the millions of Iraqi refugees. According to Time Magazine (March 12, 2007), the war in [tag]Iraq[/tag] has displaced nearly 4 million people and as many as 2 million have left the country all together.
Most of the countries that have carried the burden of the [tag]refugees[/tag] are in the Middle East–Syria, Jordan, and Iran. This makes sense since many of these refugees either have family or relationships with people in those countries, and those countries border Iraq.
Outside of these neighboring countries, Sweden has taken in more than 11,000 Iraqis. Compare that to the United States which has been reluctant to open the doors to these refugees. In 2005, we admitted 18 Iraqi refugees, and 202 in 2006. The State Department claims it will admit up to 7,000 more, with special considerations to Iraqis who work for the US government.
While the US has offered to pay a significant part of the United Nation resettlement program, it refuses to take off the “Please Do Not Disturb” sign. Why? Because US officials argue that “resettling Iraqis will accelerate the country’s [tag]brain drain[/tag].”
We initiate a war in the Middle East, based on false intelligence, causing more chaos in the region and in our world, and we refuse to deal with the refugee problem except throw money at it. I know that many people would argue that moral leadership should not be the responsibility of the government. Of course, it would not just be moral, but politically and geopolitically wise to not only admit more refugees but to have a comprehensive plan of dealing with the refugee problem.
These refugees will either be our greatest allies or our future enemies. Where did much of the Palestinian terrorism shape in the 1980’s? In the refugee camps outside of Beirut.
I will pull this final quote from Time Magazine’s article (by Massimo Calabresi), quoting George Washington who pledged that “America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions.”
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