The Post's Al Kamen on Iraq's refugee crisis:
For a long time, Washington basically denied the existence of a refugee problem. Then at the end of 2006, the State Department said the United States would resettle 7,000 Iraqis in 2007 -- not all that many, but a huge increase from the 466 resettled since 2003.
So how many were resettled last month? 500? 600? Well, not quite. Actually, the total for April, according to the State Department, was . . . drumroll . . . ONE.
That's pretty shocking. But what about humanitarian organizations? Surely they're picking up the slack, no?
Actually, they're not, argues FP contributing writer David Bosco in yesterday's Boston Globe. Bosco chides "the West's leading human rights organizations" for essentially punting on the biggest question of all: "whether U.S. troops should stay or go." The reason for their silence, says Bosco, is that "human rights professionals are as confused as everyone else about how to stop the spiraling sectarian violence."
One thing they certainly can do without making up their minds on this question, it seems to me, is raise the alarm about a burgeoning catastrophe that will have repercussions in the region and beyond for years to come. See Nir Rosen's incredibly depressing New York Times magazine cover story to get a sense of just how disastrous inaction could be. About 50,000 Iraqis are departing the country each month, according to Rosen. The State Department is coming up just a wee bit short.
Read More
