that the Iraki refugees who come home can't come home because someone else is in their house.

Give me a break.

If it wasn't for our illegal war on Irak - and our even more illegal war on the innocent civilians of that bomb-blasted country - these people would still be living in those neighborhoods - with their sectarian opposites whom they are married to, are best friends with, etc etc.

Not our fault.

Yeah. That's just like us. Bomb the place back into the dark ages and then blame them for not doing more to put it back together...while we continue to drop tens of thousands of bombs there on a weekly basis.

The UN has two refugee agencies. One, UNRWA for the Palestinians and one for everyone else. UNRWA determined that every Palestinian everywhere unto the last generation is a refugee. This is probably a good model for the Iraqis. Just declare them refugees everywhere, forever, for an unlimited # of generations. So the Iraqis who live in Damascus and Amman and who are not given any legitimate status there, even to the point where their children are barred from school, would simply be declared refugees to be administered by the UN. The neighborhoods the live in would be reclassified as refugee camps.

Weren't they to be hired to scrub floors at Fort Benning? Or to serve as rest-room attendants at Haliburton HQ? Or does that run afoul of immigration laws, which the right takes pain to point out. The very folks abusing said laws. We owe these people one country, even if it is slightly -- er, used.

In fact, the ethnic cleansing of Sunni Baghdad and elsewhere by the Shiites and Kurds, was allowed and condoned by the US occupation forces as we waged war on the sunni minority which ran ghe country so well before the 1991 war (at that time Iraq had the highest standard of living, education, and medical services in the middle east outside Israel)and our takeover and occupation in 2003.

One of the most important issues--and one in which american occupation and governance bears huge responsibility--facing a peaceful Iraq is the return of Sunnies to their homes and neighborhoods in Mosul, Kirkuk, and Baghdad. I don't see anyone even discussing that--including Petreaus.

(intimidation) resulted in massive internal and then external displacement ... This occurred in the first 5 or so months of 2007 when "the surge" was being mobilized and Petraeus and his boys were playing wack-a-mole in the region OUTSIDE of Baghdad proper ... and while in Bagdad proper -- as far as I can tell -- all those fucking walls were being installed (not build and but assembled from trucked or helicoptered in reinforced blast concrete modules..)

Apparently "good manners" seems to also omit the detail that, as far as I can tell, these refugees are largely Sunni -- the previously better-off, the minority (more minor every month, apparently), who had assets to sell to make travel possible (your average Sadr City resident relies on charity for just about everything) ... as far as I can tell "Debaathification" remains one of those things parliament remains unable to make happen, so these folks aren't working though some (many?) were receiving pensions, as far as I can tell.

(If anyone knows how your average Iraqi manages to find money for things like kerosene and detergent, or to pay their cell-phone bill or satellite television, etc. -- I.e. things that generally must be purchased -- I'd really like to know).

Anyway ... we couldn't do anything when these folks were being driven from their homes ... and we can't do anything now that their homes have been stolen (even though for most their homes are the only real asset they have left) and apparently this sort of displacement has never happend before in the history of mankind ... so how could we have anticipated it and/or found some remedy BEFORE we invited these people to return to Baghdad....

Iraq seems to have been the model for Katrina and now their roles are reversed.

Can't get there from here ... no one could have anticipated ... whoodathunkit?

Author Anna Badhken wrote:

Most of the rest eke out a living in refugee camps in Syria and Jordan, Iraq's neighbors that are constantly tightening visa restrictions.

Her statement and article demands correction to reflect omitted facts: both UN refugee commission and independent reporters have reported that Iran is sheltering 750,000 Iraqi refugees, in peace and security.

On the other hand, a 2007 USA Today article reported:

Few Iraqi refugees allowed into U.S.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-04-29-iraqi-refugees_N.htm

The 2007 article says that the US admitted 68 Iraqi refugees.

In contrast, a 2007 Boston Globe article reported that 750,000 Iraqis have fled their country and are living in security in Iran.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/05/13/iran_is_a_hot_destination_for_iraqis_seeking_calm/

Justice demands a correction, Ms. Badhken.

Not sure why but Sweden has essentially eliminated most of the barriers to entry for Iraqi 'refugees'. Pretty small country so I'll give them that. Just not so sure how that will work for them long run. If there's one way to make a largely homogeneous population feel pissed off it's tax the living shit out of them and then make them feel like foreigners in their own country.

Hope that works out for the Swedes though. Cause next door Norway isn't nearly as forgiving and friendly when it comes to non natives.

One of the major reasons that donors including the US and the EC are reluctant to continue funding relief programs for displaced Iraqis are the many well-meaning but poorly informed self-righteous advocates out there making so much noise on the matter and getting their facts wrong at the same time.

You are not helping.

4.5 million Iraqis were NOT displaced since the 2003. An equal number were displaced BEFORE the invasion and the vast majority who were displaced internally was displaced after Feb 2006 due to sectarian violence, not by US military activities. The vast majority of them were displaced in and around one place, Baghdad and most did not move very far. The peak date of displacement was mid to late 2006. Many Iraqis are just now getting registered so it may look like displacement is growing until you read the footnotes.

The National Policy on Displacement was prepared by UNHCR with wide consultations with NGOs and even the displaced. Within it are international standards and norms based on the UN's guiding principals of displacement. The Iraqi Government and Red Crescent as well as the NGOs and the UN have done a lot to prevent this crisis from getting out of hand and all your ill-informed criticisms are a slap in the face.

Instead of walking around with US soldiers who most likely don't have a clue what's happening regarding this critical issue because they don’t really live in the communities they patrol and rely on interpreters, why not walk around with one of the many local NGOs or UN Agencies working with the displaced every day.

AND, the idea that Iraq was some sort of paradise before 2003 is easily refuted by going to HRW, Amnesty International or talking to any Shia Arab or Kurd anywhere in Iraq. By the way that’s 80% of the country. Some may not be happy we are still in Iraq but no Shia or Kurd ever told me that pre-2003 Iraq was the harmonious paradise that some anti-war folks sometimes fool themselves into believing.