The war in Iraq has consequences. That sentence may seem to be a statement of the obvious, but it never seemed to have occurred to the neocons who started this thing. Their entire plan for invading Iraq seems like a plan for a bank robbery from a gangster movie -- "In and out and nobody gets hurt." Donald Rumsfeld infamously assured us that he doubted the whole thing would last six months, let alone six weeks.It's been five years.
As the war drags on and on and on, the consequences build. Our economy is a burning wreck, our reputation in the world is that of money-hungry liars, our dead number nearly 4,000, and our military is stretched beyond the breaking point. Of course, there are consequences for other nations -- most notably Iraq. And, contrary to what you might've been told, people actually live in Iraq. Some of those people work for us.
Associated Press:
Ali Qassim has three pieces of shrapnel lodged in his left eye and metal shards scattered elsewhere in his body.
Lingering in a private rest home in Jordan, he believes the wounds from his service with the U.S. military in Iraq entitle him to a fresh start in America, where doctors and donations might be able to restore his eyesight.
The 23-year-old Iraqi interpreter has pinned high hopes on a new U.S. special resettlement program that will make it easier for Iraqis working for Americans in Iraq to get U.S. visas without a referral from the U.N. refugee agency.
Advocacy and lawmakers have criticized Washington's record of admitting Iraqis into the United States. They say the Bush administration has a moral obligation to Iraqis — especially those who have worked with U.S. troops — but only a tiny fraction have made it into America.
"Tiny fraction" is about the best way to put it. "Microscopic" might be another. The latest figures I found tell us that, as of May 2007, less than 500 Iraqis had settled in the US...
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