The List: A Mission To Save Iraqi Lives »
Posted By bubba2 1 year, 7 months ago in NewsMillions of Iraqis have fled the war, many marked for death because they worked for the United States. When that happened in Vietnam, the U.S. brought over 100,000 refugees to the states. But today, the U.S. government, which was so desperate for Iraqi workers, is not so eager to help them now.
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bubba2
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bubba21 year, 7 months ago
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FTA --
So how did this become Kirk Johnson's problem? It started in 2006, when he worked in Iraq for the U.S. Agency for International Development. One of his friends, an Iraqi co-worker, was eventually marked by the enemy as a "collaborator."
"And within 24 hours he found a severed dog's head on his front steps with a note pinned to it saying that his head would be next. He took that note to our employer to USAID, the United States government, and he said 'I need your help. I'm gonna get killed if I don't find some sort of safe house or some kind of protection. Because they know now that I work for you all.'
And USAID, they basically told him, 'That's really unfortunate, good luck with things, if you're not back here in one month we're going to give your job away to somebody else,'" Johnson says.
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bubba21 year, 7 months ago
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The refusal of our government to bring into this country the Iraqis that HELPED them when and after we invaded is beyond unconscionable.
How dare our government deny LIFE - escape from DEATH - to Iraqis that HELPED them during and after the invasion!
This IS evil - the hubris and the lack of conscience on the part of Bush and his administration is disgusting.
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bubba21 year, 7 months ago
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We can AT LEAST take in the Iraqis that HELPED our government and our soldiers. The administration is BARELY even doing that.
To get people to risk their lives for you and then leave them "hanging out to dry" - or in this case hanging out to be murdered - is CRIMINAL.
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cosmogenium1 year, 7 months ago
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Absolutely! These same neo-cons did the same thing to the moderates in Iran when the Shaw was overthrown. Their actions have brought about the crises that confront us today, yet they refuse to take responsibility. And when the crepitation contacts the rotary oscillator, they blame everybody else!
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CHAM1 year, 7 months ago
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Spadecaller
The words are "You are under arrest for crimes against humanity". These words to be delivered as soon as Bush and Cheney are either Impeached or have left office.
And we certainly don't need to stop there. There are many enablers - in criminal activity here in the USA we call them - Co-Defendants, and should call them "Congress".
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gamahuche1 year, 7 months ago
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Good story Bubba, in its essentials.
The case for supporting those who helped the US is overwhelming.
There is a separate issue of all the other people who have left Iraq for whatever reason.
Unfortunately CBS indulges in some needless hyperbole by conflating them in this story.
"Threats like that have pushed four million Iraqis from their homes. About a million of them are hiding in neighboring Jordan, where 60 Minutes traveled to meet some of the people sending Johnson desperate e-mails by the thousands."
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"So far, Kirk Johnson has helped 86 Iraqi refugees find their dream of life in the U.S.-86 out of an estimated 100,000 or more who raised their hands when America asked for help"
There is no evidence that the 4 million left because of threats - in fact a great many of them may have left because of the US invasion and the desperate drop on living standards and quality of life that occurred - the on-going lines for petrol and lack of electricity.
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gamahuche1 year, 7 months ago
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And above all the lawlessness.
All issues for which the US remains responsible and which need to be remedied but these 4 million people are not in need of resettlement. They would like to be able to come home - many of them are destitute already, having spent their life-savings, and frequently are not wanted in the countries where they are living. Kids unable to go to school, adults not allowed to get legal jobs. There are stories of women being forced into prostitution to "make ends meet".
Altogether a much bigger story but not one that captures the imagination or carries the "feelgood" cachet that sells news of the brave hero who has helped 86 people. [No put down of this individual intended!! He is righteously doing what he can do and what the US government seems to be incapable/unwilling, probably both, to take on..]
Now about that electricity supply and petrol on the pumps..
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bubba21 year, 7 months ago
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Right. I think CBS mentions the 4 million for 'effect'.
It is correct that MOST of those displaced - inside Iraq and outside of Iraq - want to come home. They left because of the violence, but they can't return mainly because of security and because of the sectarian violence still going on. A lot of people are being killed because of being Shia (by the Sunni) or being killed because of being Sunni (by the Shia), not because they helped the U.S.
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bubba21 year, 7 months ago
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I posted a similar / related story here --
http://donoevil.propeller.com/story/2008/05/19/...
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