Riverbend join Ranks of Refugees from Iraq
Prominent Iraqi blogger Riverbend and her family are at last leaving Iraq. The discussions she reports have happened thousands of times a month among Iraqi families:
Since last summer, we had been discussing it more and more. It was only a matter of time before what began as a suggestion- a last case scenario- soon took on solidity and developed into a plan. For the last couple of months, it has only been a matter of logistics. Plane or car? Jordan or Syria? Will we all leave together as a family? Or will it be only my brother and I at first?
After Jordan or Syria- where then? Obviously, either of those countries is going to be a transit to something else. They are both overflowing with Iraqi refugees, and every single Iraqi living in either country is complaining of the fact that work is difficult to come by, and getting a residency is even more difficult. There is also the little problem of being turned back at the border. Thousands of Iraqis aren't being let into Syria or Jordan- and there are no definite criteria for entry, the decision is based on the whim of the border patrol guard checking your passport.
An airplane isn't necessarily safer, as the trip to Baghdad International Airport is in itself risky and travelers are just as likely to be refused permission to enter the country (Syria and Jordan) if they arrive by airplane. And if you're wondering why Syria or Jordan, because they are the only two countries that will let Iraqis in without a visa. Following up visa issues with the few functioning embassies or consulates in Baghdad is next to impossible.
So we've been busy. Busy trying to decide what part of our lives to leave behind. Which memories are dispensable? We, like many Iraqis, are not the classic refugees- the ones with only the clothes on their backs and no choice. We are choosing to leave because the other option is simply a continuation of what has been one long nightmare- stay and wait and try to survive.
On the one hand, I know that leaving the country and starting a new life somewhere else- as yet unknown- is such a huge thing that it should dwarf every trivial concern. The funny thing is that it’s the trivial that seems to occupy our lives. We discuss whether to take photo albums or leave them behind. Can I bring along a stuffed animal I've had since the age of four? Is there room for E.'s guitar? What clothes do we take? Summer clothes? The winter clothes too? What about my books? What about the CDs, the baby pictures?
The problem is that we don't even know if we'll ever see this stuff again. We don't know if whatever we leave, including the house, will be available when and if we come back. There are moments when the injustice of having to leave your country, simply because an imbecile got it into his head to invade it, is overwhelming. It is unfair that in order to survive and live normally, we have to leave our home and what remains of family and friends… And to what?
It's difficult to decide which is more frightening- car bombs and militias, or having to leave everything you know and love, to some unspecified place for a future where nothing is certain.
Only a few fleeing Iraqis have been admitted to the United States, which is a travesty.
Worse, Iraqis who want to come to the US as refugees seeking asylum often face a catch-22 of being defined as terrorists because they have been victimized. For instance, if a family had a member kidnapped, and payed ransom, and then fled to Jordan and applied to come to the US, their having paid the ransom would be considered a form of material support to terrorism and they would be excluded!
In the past 14 months, 750,000 Iraqis have been forced to flee their homes. And the US media lets politicians get away with saying that things are "improving"!
See Dahr Jamail on the Iraqi refugee crisis in Jordan and Syria.
Labels: Iraq War
posted by Juan Cole @ 4/26/2007 05:35:00 AM
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Regarding Riverbend's decision to flee the U.S. created war zone in Iraq. (A smart, albeit dangerous, move.)
From her posting:
"I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night."
One has to ask WHO is responsible for the destabilization, the breakdown of Iraqi society & culture?
Who benefits?
My Mother always told me "Follow the money, son."
Well, I followed the money, and it led to U.S foreign policy's military machine, and by extension, all the former covert 'employees' of our foreign policy ventures into the Middle east and Central Asia... Like Osama bin-laden to name one...
The first Democratic presidential candidate who gets Riverbend out of Iraq and into America and sponsors her and gives her a job with their campaign going around the country telling people what it's really like - that candidate will be president.
I suspect that the number of Iraqi refugees being allowed into the US has been kept low - by a deliberate refusal of the Bushiites to increase the Iraq refugees quota - precisely because an influx of a million Iraqi refugees into the US would be a clear indication that the Bush strategery in Iraq has failed...
This crises is clearly comparable to other failed US interventions, such as the Vietnam War, which also led to an influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees into the US...
The loss of this middle class is going to be devastating for Iraq - I have witnessed a similar situation in Kashmir, where the exodus of the professional middle class has made the valley all the more susceptible to radical elements...
Officials in Mr. Sadr’s office in Sadr City would not comment Wednesday on whether the bombing campaign would provoke a resurgence of the Mahdi Army, though they declared that the continuing attacks underscored the failure of the security plan. “The security situation is worsening,” said Abdul Mehdi Mutayri, one of the top political officers for Mr. Sadr’s organization. “The security plan might have been declared a success in the media, but it has failed on the ground.”
As things continue to spiral out of control in Iraq, I think it is important that we; as concerned Americans remember those who are still in support of this debacle. The reason I say this is because every soldier that is sent to Iraq and every life that is lost from here on out is the responsibility of those supporting our continued presence there.
It is one thing to not know and believe. It is a far different thing to know and not care. Even though it is early in this new “surge” strategy, it is obvious it will work no better than the previous “surges”. What the supporters fail to understand is that the biggest issue facing Iraq is not going to be solved militarily. As soon as Saddam Hussein was toppled it was no longer a military operation. At that point it became political for the US as well as the Iraqi’s. It was at that moment that we lost the peace and the confidence of the Iraqi people. The mistakes made in those first days sealed the fate of this operation and we have never been able to be overcome them. We had great plans for the invasion and no plans for the peace. There were glimpses of opportunities to overcome the initial failings, but even those were not taken advantage of.
I hate to be the one to acknowledge what any reasonable person should be able to see, this thing is beyond our repair. I did not say that it is beyond repair, just beyond our ability to repair it. We no longer have the leverage or the political will to do what needs to be done. We should withdraw our troops to the perimeter border of Iraq; we should allow the process of reconciliation to be headed by the UN and the regional powers, and finally we should accept that freedom cannot be planned. If it were then it would no longer be freedom. This would defy the very definition of freedom. Iraq should show us that when you make an offer of freedom to a people you cannot control the outcome.
http://thedisputedtruth.blogspot.com/
Can we help find them a place to stay? How?
Guiliani has lowered himself to fearmongering in his campaign. He is claiming that a vote for Democrats is a vote for more terrorist attacks on American soil. Well, the Bush Administration should know all about that, since they allowed it to happen on their watch. All rational American should look at the record where the Republicans are concerned, and ditch the spin. Terrorist attacks worldwide have increased, not decreased. Ask the Spanish. Ask the British. Ask the Indonesians, and on and on. Tiz true we haven't had any further attacks here in the USA. That, I think is somewhat due to greater vigilance, but also due to the Grace of God. Our ports are open. Chemical plants are left to their own devices. Transportation, like subways, are sitting ducks. The borders remain mostly permeable. Drugs get smuggled in every day, and who knows what else. I think we have been very lucky, no special thanks to George W. Bush, who has dumped all of our resources down a rat hole in Iraq. So, what about Osama? He remains free and an inspiration to all terrorist wanna-bees. Pakistan, our ally(?) has had to play a cat and mouse game, with the mouse not being pursued very rigorously. Thus, in the far-reaches of the mountains, the King of Terrorists roams at will and trains his followers. Are we going to bomb Pakistan? Nooooooo. And what about the Saudis, and other Arab countries that have passed the hat for terrorist groups, under the table and around the corner in the shadows? Shall we bomb them? Again, Noooooo. How about all those terrorists in Indonesia? In Somalia? In, In, In.....Terrorism is a global problem, not concentrated in any one country. It requires a global response. Yet, the pigheaded Neo-Cons insist on targeting yet another country, Iran, and huffing and puffing about another war, never mind that this one is a total disaster of death and devastation. Stupid cranks and crackpots like Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma keep insiting the war can be won and to suggest otherwise is traitorous. What is traitorous is to continue to pass on false information, to lie, and to deny reality, and cause the deaths of more human beings in the process. Those who vote for men like Inhofe or cling to partisan politics are the traitors to what this country once stood for: a beacon of hope. Bush has closed our doors to victims of war. He has closed his mind to reality. His bunker mentality closes off any chance of truly moderating the forces of terrorism.
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