To me, the striking fact in this article is that after many thousands of deaths in Iraq, on all sides, only 63 refugees have been granted permission to resettle in the US?

I think we could easily support a few million.

Perhaps we could just give them one of the red states?

We will never give the sort of political asylum that these people merit because Bush has done too good (evil!) a job demonizing everything and everyone Islamic. The same people he scared into war will be still too scared to open their hearts.

(

Now let me see you sacrificed a lot and you came up empty handed and now they act like they don't know you huh? well you should get in line behind all the service men and women who either lost limbs or received brain damage or just ended up dead! yes get in that line when America has taken care of its own we will make promises but don't hold your breath our own people will tell you factual stories that would make your story in comparison seem small. I can tell you most Americans are sympathetic and feel real sorrow for your tragedy because most Americans believe that we were a caring nation that followed rules and laws from our own constitution and we thought that would never change, but our government is not to be trusted anymore, since the beginning of this questionable attack on our country protocol and laws seemed to have been ignored or blatantly broken in the name of terror.Accountability and responsibility went out the window and these guys are still in charge and pushing people around whom our citizens depend on to uphold the law of even the highest office but yet our nation waits shocked and congress and the senate seem to be dilly dawdling around and just plain looking like their scared! The upcoming election at this point in time is captivating more importantance and attention than our children who are fighting and dying abroad for nothing. so in short Ms.Al-jabouri the line is long and un-chartered and the uncertainty of what will become of your nation and ours is in the hands of a few very deranged people. Their greed has no limit and are totally un-aware of the hardships that people face daily in Iraq! But for what its worth we as Americans and I'm sure a majority would agree you have been bushwhacked don't feel like the lone ranger like i said the line is long you won't be alone,,,A friend and u.s. citizen good luck

I hope the persons who make editorial decisions about including articles like this wont be discouraged by the dearth of letters-- this is an excellent article and I for one appreciate salon making it available.

It is too bad that Debra Dickerson's bad writing, and horrible topics, seem to be read by and commented on by more Salon readers than this article.

I would love to know if there was something that we citizens could do to help those Iraqis who have risked everything to help us.

I did not and do not support this war. But I recognize the services rendered by our own military personnel and those Iraqis who tried to help out in this mess.

Our country has resettled an abysmal number of refugees compared to European countries, who have already relocated tens of thousands of refugees.

Any meaningful withdrawal will require the relocation of millions of people who would otherwise face persecution and reprisal by the warring factions. The Bush Administration has to be held to account on this as a failure akin to the Katrina debacle. Yet another display of massive incompetence.

People have to work hard to get their heads around the sheer volume of failure and incompetence by this administration. It's like understanding the federal debt or imagining the edge of the universe. Too much work.

I feel for her . truely. She is a definition of bravery and the world needs more like her.

yet humanitarians arn't useful it seems to the US if they can't be used in military/government propaganda to give support the Lie known as the Iraq war Bush illegaly started.

She's no longer useful so they drop her like a rock. pathetic.

At the beginning of the Iraq war, my wife was offered a very well-paying job as a translator, due to her Arabic background.

She politely declined. She had already lived in the U.S. for 15 years, and was now more aware of how things really work.

People in other countries do not have the luxury of this insight. They hold in their own minds a distinction between the U.S. policies and government, and the citizens

themselves. The latter they see as freedom-loving, open-minded, generous, and kind.

This is somewhat of a fallacy, isn't it?

Our government, being elected, is an extension of ourselves. When I hear Bush talk, it is like listening to my own father at the dinner table.

We were the enablers. But now, more and more of us are waking up. For many, it will be too late.

...is thinking that Ahlam is probably one of the lucky ones. Her captors let her go, after all. How many more people who aided US efforts have been killed?

Thank you, Salon, for this article. As frustrating and saddening as it is, we need to know about the pain that has been committed in our name.