Gord's Notebook : ONE MILLION DEAD IRAQIS & THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

from

MSNBC: Iraq refugees knocking: U.S. to let in 7,000
That's up from 800 allowed in since 2003, but fewer than Sweden

May 30, 2007

WASHINGTON - The United States will soon begin admitting a bigger trickle of the more than 2 million refugees who have fled Iraq, acknowledging for the first time the country may never be safe for some who have helped the U.S. there.

...Since the war began in 2003, fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees have been admitted, angering critics who argued the United States is obligated to assist many more, particularly those whose work for American agencies or contractors placed them in danger.

Now, under enhanced screening measures aimed at weeding out potential terrorists — announced this week by the Department of Homeland Security — the administration plans to allow nearly 7,000 Iraqis to resettle in the United States by the end of September.

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Yes this post is long but these are important issues & deserve more than just " SOUND BITES" " TALKING POINTS " & " NEOCON SPIN" which is the "Lief motif" of politicians, lawyers , Public Relations Spin-Doctors , bureaucrts & the Mass Media & most Faux Journalists who even have well-paying jobs at the CBC & CTV FOX NEWS, CNN ,NBC, CBS all working for WAlMART WORLD INC. HALIBURTON .INC. & for the rest of the Super-rich -

So the news from the front as it were is much worse than most people thought it could be as the latest study claims that the number of Iraqis killed since the American Invasion of that country is now set at 1.2 million - that's a death toll of 200,000 Iraqis a year or about sixteen thousand 16,000a month or over 500 a day- This places the Iraqi war as resulting in more deaths than that of the Rwanda Genocide - and it is even more catastrophic when we add the number of Iraqis who have fled the country at about 2,000,000 ( two million ) with another 2,000,000 ( two million) Iraqis as displaced within Iraq- Yet the American & Canadian & British media are for the most part silent about this on-going blood bath -

And as for the report given by General Petraeus last week well he is either deluded , naive or spent all his time in Iraq in the Green Zone known as the Emerald City where wishful thinking replaces facts & reality or just click the heels of your Ruby Slippers together & all will be well- so is General Petraeus just another " Good Little Tin Soldier doing what Bush & even the American people demands of him that is tell them what they want to hear to soothe their anxiety & their conscious & so Genereal Petraeus is far from being some example of a moral role model & has corrupt & misplaced loyalties or does he just hope to get in on the " gravy train " once he retires because there's big money to be made for some in Iraq so what if a few hundred thousand Iraqis have to die so Haliburton & others & their share-holders can get richer- Its just all part of the Winner Take All Protestant American Work Ethic which says that the losers are not faithful enough to God or don't pray enough or are just not among the Blessed- The ELECT- who are prosperous-

The media of course is more interested in getting the dirt on O.J. Simpson and making sure people don't mention the insanity of this war at the Emmy's or other award shows or ' American Idol " than worrying their heads over such trifles so why should simple minded naive Americans worry about all "them dead foreigners " besides most of the dead are Arabs & Muslims & not Christians of European descent so why should we in the west care about the deaths of these " barbarians & subhumans " - much of the lack of concern is based I believe on racism , Xenophobia , nativism or even tribalism combined with the insane belief that we in the West can do whatever we want because we are the good guys & that we have God & Reason on our side which is of course utter nonsense -since even Hitler thought he had God & Reason on his side as did the British during the Great Uprising in India in the 19th century when a few million Indians were murdered for God, Queen & Empire as if the people of India had no rights in their own country where their civilization had lasted some three or four thousand years - The Chinese were also taught the same lesson during OPIUM WARS when China attempted to end the Opium production & trade - or as leaders like Salvador Allende in Chile learned when they tried to create a more just society in their respective countries -

But Patriotism taken to the extreme can be a form of insanity or mass delusion- for instance many of the Germans who kept silent or truly believed they should support their leader & their Military & therefore their nation right or wrong who believed Germany was somehow chosen by God or as a result of an historical imperative in which Germany had the right to grow & expand & therefore had the right to whatever resources they needed & that other nations must bow to its will & superiority -

According to the Bush Regime they invaded or " liberated " Iraq to free the Iraqi people from their oppressor Saddam & now that the country is in turmoil their only response is to bomb & obliterate one city or town after another . Their policies have led to the deaths of a half million to one million Iraqi civilians & the displacement of over four million Iraqis so it would seem logical that the Americans take some responsibility for this tragedy but of course they blame the Iraqis for not being grateful for what the Americans have supposedly done for them . Two million Iraqis have so far fled the country for fear of being killed by other Iraqis , the death squads & American bombs & American troops . What can one expect when you carpet bomb one town or city in Iraq after another -

Just look at what they did to Fallujah when after four American Mercenaries were killed the US military & George W. Bush decide to teach the citizens of Fallujah a lesson - they surrounded the city refused to let relief workers into the city the Red Cross & Red Crescent & others so they could help the wounded - no instead they killed a hundred thousand or so citizens having learned this method of Reprisal from Stalin & Hitler - this boys & girls is where we are now - The Western countries who do not speak out about the immoral illegal & unconscionable occupation of Iraq will be judged once again by History as wanting & that our Civilization is no better than any other that has existed we are as Blood Thirsty as the Romans or The Spanish or British who also mass murdered millions in the name of Jesus & the all Mighty Dollar .

So lets just stop & look at the question of Iraq Refugees -
In regards to the over 2,000,000 ( two million ) Iraqi Refugees the question then arises what should be done to help these refugees or are they be just left to starve & die- is this the New Neocon policy to hell with anyone who is suffering since the world is a cruel place as for example the way the Bush regime has treated the Hurricane Katina Refugees . At the very least the Americans should be giving large amounts of aid to the countries who have taken in the Iraqi Refugees yet the Bush regime is doing little or nothing to help out in this crisis . But no such luck they claim to give some 80 million to help these refugees but that only works out to be about 40 dollars per refugee - it is odd how the the Bush Regime can magically come up with Billions of dollars to pump into the war but then cries about fiscal responsibility & the limited responsibility that America has in regards to Iraqi Refugees - yet they keep telling us that the war is being fought on behalf of the Iraqi people- well somethings gone wrong somewhere-

If Americans did care about the Iraqi people then one would expect them to be willing to accept large numbers of Iraqi refugees of which there are now about 2,000,000 ( Two Million ) but the Americans have taken in so far less than a thousand & our holier than thou country of Canada has shown itself just as mean-spirited unlike countries like Denmark , Sweden & Switzerland taken in less than a thousand while countries like Syria & Jordan etc. are left to cope with the vast majority of the Iraqi Refugee problem on their own-
the Bush regime along with their allies have been reluctant to give an appropriate amount of economic aid to help feed clothe & provide shelter schools & hospitals for these refugees - This in itself is a sad state of affairs & the hands of Canadians by their lack of concern or action are now bloodied -we too are guilty in this disregard for human life especially when the people are seen as " not like us " since they are mainly Arab & Muslim- but then again if as the evidence shows we were unwilling to take in European Jews in the 1930's & 1940's in large numbers even after the extent of the Holocaust was well known since our prejudices about Jews were still apparent - anti-semitism has been a disease that has infected our society for over a thousand years or so-
& now one wonders is it our fears & prejudices once again which are preventing us from doing the right thing- this time it is Arabs & Muslims that many in our society fear & hate or have we become as a society quite callous & indifferent to the suffering of people who we see as strangers & as " the other " who are no longer part of our definition of being human -
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Human Rights First The Iraqi Refugee Crisis

Scope of the Iraqi Refugee Crisis

Total number of Iraqi refugees At least 2.2 million, with another 2 million displaced inside Iraq

Number of Iraqis fleeing each day 2,000

Iraqi refugees in Jordan 750,000

Iraqi refugees in Syria Between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000

Iraqi refugees accepted by the United States in 2007 190

Iraqi refugees accepted by the U.S. who fled since 2003 less than 100

Iraqis currently working for the US government according to State and Defense Department records.
118,000

Number of Iraqi translators killed according to L-3, the contractor that hires them for the US military
257

...The U.S. Response to the Refugee Crisis

At a January 16, 2007 oversight hearing on “The Plight of Iraqi Refugees,” Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) expressed concern that the United States admitted only 202 Iraqi refugees to the country during the last fiscal year and that a special immigrant visa program for Iraqi and Afghan translators already had a six-year wait list.

On February 14, 2007, the United States State Department announced that the U.S. would:

* resettle 7,000 Iraqi refugees in the United States through its resettlement program;
* create special programs (including through legislation) to assist Iraqis who are at risk because of their employment or close association with the United States government;
* contribute $18 million to the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees, as well as provide other aid; and
* engage the governments in the region, thanking them for their assistance and encouraging them to uphold the principle of first asylum.

But so far, the United States has brought only a handful of Iraqi refugees to the United States this year, and much more assistance is needed to ensure the safety and protection of Iraqi refugees and those displaced within Iraq. As of June 20 – World Refugee Day – the United States had resettled only 272 Iraqi refugees since October 2005.

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Iraqi Refugees Overwhelm Syria
Migrants Who Fled Violence Put Stress on Housing Market, Schools By Scott Wilson Washington Post Foreign Service February 3, 2005

U.N. provides food to Iraqi refugees in Syria during Ramadan The Associated Press September 15, 2007
Syria is home to some 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, many of whom have fled violence in their home country following the U.S.-led war to topple Saddam Hussein.

Their influx has strained Syria's education, health and housing systems, pushing the government to call for international assistance and tighten visa requirements.

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and from the Guardian in 2006

: Warning over spiralling Iraq refugee crisis Matt Weaver and agencies December 7, 2006 Guardian Unlimited

The surging violence in Iraq has created what is becoming the biggest refugee crisis in the world, a humanitarian group said today.

A report by Washington-based Refugees International said an influx of Iraqis threatened to overwhelm other Middle Eastern countries, particularly Syria, Jordon and Lebanon.

Last month, the UN estimated that 100,000 people were fleeing the country each month, with the number of Iraqis now living in other Arab countries standing at 1.8 million.

Today's report came as George Bush and Tony Blair were due to discuss the situation in Iraq, which the bipartisan Iraq Study Group yesterday described as "grave and deteriorating".

Refugees International said the acceleration in the numbers fleeing Iraq meant it could soon overtake the refugee crisis in Darfur.

"We're not saying it's the largest [refugee crisis], but it's quickly becoming the largest," spokeswoman Kristele Younes said. "The numbers are very, very scary."

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And from CNN June 21, 2007 From Arwa Damon Iraq refugees chased from home, struggle to cope
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Refugees International

and from

Refugees International Iraq: The World's Fastest Growing Refugee Crisis 08/29/2007

Since November 2006, Refugees International has led the call for increased assistance to Iraqi refugees and displaced people.

The displacement of Iraqis from Iraq is now the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world.

The UN estimates that over 4 million Iraqis have been displaced by violence in their country, the vast majority of which have fled since 2003. Over 2.2 million have vacated their homes for safer areas within Iraq, 1.5 million are now living in Syria, and over 1 million refugees inhabit Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and Turkey. Most Iraqis are determined to be resettled to Europe or North America, and few consider return to Iraq an option. With no legal work options in their current host countries, Iraqis are already exploring the use of false documents to migrate to Western nations.

The violence in Iraq has reached a deadly tipping point: Most Iraqis feel threatened.

“Iraqis who are unable to flee the country are now in a queue, waiting their turn to die,” is how one Iraqi journalist summarizes conditions in Iraq today. While the US debates whether a civil war is raging in Iraq, thousands of Iraqis face the possibility of death every day all over the country. Refugees International has met with dozens of Iraqis who have fled the violence and sought refuge in neighboring countries. All of them, whether Sunni, Shi’a, Christian or Palestinian, had been directly victimized by armed actors. People are targeted because of religious affiliation, economic status, and profession – many, such as doctors, teachers, and even hairdressers, are viewed as being “anti-Islamic.” All of them fled Iraq because they had genuine and credible fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Neighboring countries are being overwhelmed by the massive influx of Iraqi refugees.

Syria and Jordan are rapidly becoming overwhelmed by the numbers of Iraqis seeking refuge in their urban centers. Jordan, Lebanon and Syria consider Iraqis as “guests” rather than refugees fleeing violence. None of these countries allows Iraqis to work. Although Syria is maintaining its “open door policy” in the name of pan-Arabism, it has begun imposing restrictions on Iraqi refugees, such as charges for health care that used to be free. In Jordan, Iraqis have to pay for the most basic services, and live in constant fear of deportation. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Iraqis to enter Jordan or to renew their visas to remain in country.