Preparing for the meltdown
Envoy Urges Visas For Iraqis Aiding U.S.
Targets of Violence Are Seeking Refuge
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post
The American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, has asked the Bush administration to take the unusual step of granting immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government in Iraq because of growing concern that they will quit and flee the country if they cannot be assured eventual safe passage to the United States.
Crocker's request comes as the administration is struggling to respond to the flood of Iraqis who have sought refuge in neighboring countries since sectarian fighting escalated early last year. The United States has admitted 133 Iraqi refugees since October, despite predicting that it would process 7,000 by the end of September.
"Our [Iraqi staff members] work under extremely difficult conditions, and are targets for violence including murder and kidnapping," Crocker wrote Undersecretary of State Henrietta H. Fore. "Unless they know that there is some hope of an [immigrant visa] in the future, many will continue to seek asylum, leaving our Mission lacking in one of our most valuable assets."
Crocker's two-page cable dramatizes how Iraq's instability and a rapidly increasing refugee population are stoking new pressures to help those who are threatened or displaced. As public sentiment grows for a partial or full American withdrawal, U.S. Embassy officials are facing demands from their own employees to secure a reliable exit route, and the administration as a whole is facing pressure from aid groups, lawmakers and diplomats to do more for those upended by the war.
With Iraqi immigration to the United States stuck at a trickle, however, it appears that humanitarian concerns have been trumped so far by fears that terrorists may infiltrate through refugee channels. Bureaucratic delays at the departments of State and Homeland Security have also bogged down the processing of immigration requests by Iraqis fleeing violence.
(Continued here.)
Targets of Violence Are Seeking Refuge
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post
The American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, has asked the Bush administration to take the unusual step of granting immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government in Iraq because of growing concern that they will quit and flee the country if they cannot be assured eventual safe passage to the United States.
Crocker's request comes as the administration is struggling to respond to the flood of Iraqis who have sought refuge in neighboring countries since sectarian fighting escalated early last year. The United States has admitted 133 Iraqi refugees since October, despite predicting that it would process 7,000 by the end of September.
"Our [Iraqi staff members] work under extremely difficult conditions, and are targets for violence including murder and kidnapping," Crocker wrote Undersecretary of State Henrietta H. Fore. "Unless they know that there is some hope of an [immigrant visa] in the future, many will continue to seek asylum, leaving our Mission lacking in one of our most valuable assets."
Crocker's two-page cable dramatizes how Iraq's instability and a rapidly increasing refugee population are stoking new pressures to help those who are threatened or displaced. As public sentiment grows for a partial or full American withdrawal, U.S. Embassy officials are facing demands from their own employees to secure a reliable exit route, and the administration as a whole is facing pressure from aid groups, lawmakers and diplomats to do more for those upended by the war.
With Iraqi immigration to the United States stuck at a trickle, however, it appears that humanitarian concerns have been trumped so far by fears that terrorists may infiltrate through refugee channels. Bureaucratic delays at the departments of State and Homeland Security have also bogged down the processing of immigration requests by Iraqis fleeing violence.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
An earlier Vox Verax posting addressed the number of US troops being killed.
The “surge” was not only an increase in number of troops, but more potentially lethal a change in tactics. It did not take a rocket scientist to forecast that the number of injuries and deaths would increase once the US forces mission changed so that the troops stayed in the zones (to protect the citizenry) instead of returning at night to base.
But, what should be more of a concern is the increase in UK troops deaths in which now British troops serving in Iraq are being killed at a proportionally greater rate. The conventional “wisdom” is that al Qaeda is the enemy causing all the trouble. Yes, al Qaeda is a problem, but look at Basra. The UK has deemed that there is nothing more that it can do in the providence, so it has announced a drawdown. Basra is all Shiite, so all the conflict is Shiite on Shiite. The UK Telegraph reports : “The upsurge in violence is being blamed on two rival Shia groups in Basra that are vying to fill the power vacuum that will be created when British troops finally leave. They also want the perceived kudos of being able to say they were the ones who ousted the British.” Further, “One of the Army's most senior commanders told The Sunday Telegraph that the war in Iraq was now regarded by political and military chiefs within the Ministry of Defence as "a lost cause".
As the talk of a US drawdown, this should be a major concern … what will happen as the mission changes. Hence, this may be the reason that Crocker is asking for visas for all Iraqis employed in the embassy. I can hardly wait to hear the Anti-Immigration folks talking points.
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