A statistic included with an interesting Sunday Eagle article on local Asian education noted that 8,000 of the estimated 18,000 Asians in Wichita are Vietnamese — a reflection of the 135,000 Vietnamese who were welcomed to the United States after the fall of Saigon.
Meanwhile, as conditions in Iraq continue to deteriorate, 2 million Iraqis have fled that country and nearly 2 million more have been displaced within Iraq. Thousands of interpreters, guards and others who’ve helped the Americans now have “an assassin’s bull’s-eye on their backs, as Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has noted. So how many Iraqis have been granted asylum in the United States? Only 466, noted Frank Rich in the New York Times. Yes, Congress has cleared the way for 500 interpreters to come, and under new screening measures announced this week, the administration plans to allow another 7,000 this year. But Sweden plans to welcome 25,000 Iraqis this year. Surely the United States can do better than Sweden. Or will official U.S. policy be to lump innocent Iraqis in with those terrorists we’re afraid will follow our troops home?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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32 Comments
Sweden doesn’t have a problem accepting Iraqis, as potential terrorists, because Sweden isn’t trying to control, and massively profit from. Middle Eastern oil resources.
By all means, let’s bring in the people who helped America invade and occupy their country.
Those are the kind of people we want.
In fact, we should FORCE them to relocate here.
(Heavy sarcasm)
And like the Vietnamese, thirty years later, we can continue to deal with waves of 2nd cousins with no English or job skills.
Good plan.
Nobody wants to admit it but many people in small recesses of their minds are leery about Iraqis that jumped to help a foreign army invade their own country. While grateful for their help, we also ask just how faithful they would be to the United States after essentially selling out their own country. As much as I dislike GW Bush and the Repukes if a foreign army came in and removed them from power I would NOT join that army and no good American would.
Apparently you missed the spelling bee on TV last night. The FACT is that a Vietnamese kid who lands in the USA today with little education and no English will be better off in 5 years than many Americans who were born here.
“And like the Vietnamese, thirty years later, we can continue to deal with waves of 2nd cousins with no English or job skills.
Good plan.”
To allow our collaborators to come here would amount to a de facto admission that “Mission Accomplished” was a sham.
Rhonda – That quote from the same Ted Kennedy who abandoned a woman in a car who drowned and died? All because he was drunk and caused the death of that woman?
That Ted Kennedy?
Yes let’s welcome the fanatical muslims. That way they can tear us down from the inside.
We left a lot of folks dangling after WWII as well. Sweden does not have Muslim or terrorist problems… yet. So let them go there.
heheheheheeh. The iraqis would have a much easier time coming to the US if it werent for that pesky damn brown skin….
Just a reminder that laura bush has the same number of human kills that ted kennedy does.
Sol – these are OUR Iraqis. Are you saying that OUR guys are the bad guys?
Wait a minute.
Why would so many Vietnamese have come to America?
I thought that once North Vietnam “liberated” South Vietnam everything was just wonderful.
Ben,OUR Iraqis? Surely you are not saying we own them. Shame on you Ben. Slavery has been abolished.
By the by Ben, there have been problems with the Iraqi police and army that work with us during the day, then plant bombs to kill troops at night. I think they had a post here about it. So it is hard to say who
to trust you know?
Whoops :-)
Just a reminder that laura bush has the same number of human kills that ted kennedy does.Posted by: ksfarmgrrl | June 01, 2007 at 09:26 AM
Her husband has the blood of thousands on his hands.
Tom,
Bush doesn’t have the blood of thousands on his hands.
That is a rediculous statement to make.
sol – I know. That was my point. These guys are classic ‘people without a country’.
Seems like things are not going as well as advertised.
Why dont these iraqis STAY THERE and improve their own government and country? Why do they want to run away if there is so much GOOD NEWS in iraq? Why dont they send their children to ALL the new schools being built?
Cowards. They should stay in iraq and rebuild it. Isnt that what the cons here say about the Mexicans?
Ben,
It is indeed a screwed deal for MANY involved. I personally would be worried about bringing a bunch of –Iraqis- over here. Can we be sure they are displaced because of the war? Can we be sure of their intent? i.e. are they really pissed off and looking for revenge.
“i.e. are they really pissed off and looking for revenge.”
To quote Dave Knadler “YA THINK?”
Hmmm…
We have the typical anti-war people here using this to bash the war.
Yet, would our leaving make it better?
Would an American withdrawl all of a sudden make rainbows appear and Iraqi people sing in harmony?
Even most reasonable people realize that a pull out would not help them, it would leave a void for more violence.
So why you pretend to care about what happens to the Iraqi people I can only assume it is to further your political gain at the cost of others lives.
Which, is worse than the things you accuse Bush of.
“Would an American withdrawl all of a sudden make rainbows appear and Iraqi people sing in harmony?”
Well no.
But do you think our continued occupation of their country will “all fo a sudden make rainbows appear and Iraqi people sing in harmony”?
How’s that workin’ so far?
“Would an American withdrawl all of a sudden make rainbows appear and Iraqi people sing in harmony?”
Isn’t that what we were told our invasion would bring?
heheheheh.
I think it was flowers, not rainbows Ben.
Rainbows would make their homophobia unbearable…
2 million Iraqis is nearly 10% of the population. Our invasion has quite literally decimated the country.
What’s more, the ones with the means to flee are generally the educated, the well-off, the middle class, exactly the people needed to rebuild a country. The ones who stay behind are the poor, the uneducated, the and the well-armed psychotic killers.
Incidentally, they hate the intellectual elite over there, also.
Tom, here are some others that have blood on their hands. Until they became speak-out-of-the-side-of-their-mouths-apologists-and-historical-revisionists.
“One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line.”President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.
“If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program.”President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998.
“Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.”Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.
“He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983.”Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
“[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs.”Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998.
“Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.
“Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.”Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999.
“There is no doubt that . Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies.”Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001.
“We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them.”Sen. Carl Levin (d, MI), Sept. 19, 2002.
“We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.”Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.
“Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.”Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.
“We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seing and developing weapons of mass destruction.”Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002.
“The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons…”Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002.
“I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force — if necessary — to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.”Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002.
“There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years . We also should remember we have alway s underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction.”Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002,
“He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do.”Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002.
“In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.”Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
“We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction. “[W]ithout question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime … He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he has continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction … So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real …Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003.
Republican, I think everyone who voted against the Iraqi AUMF resolution should be exempt from the phrase “blood on their hands.” That includes Nancy Pelosi, who was right where you are still wrong. See, unlike you and your kind, she tried to prevent this disaster from happening in the first place.
Speaker Pelosi has to deal with a City of Left Coast Liberals and their rhetoric and waffling ways.
When then Liberal Democrites acknowledge there is more splattered on the street from automobile accidents and smoking cigarettes that is twenty times higher per year than the total of Iraq war dead, then come back and tell me how I was wrong about preventing a so-called disaster.
No sir, the Democrites are using this war as a punching bag when they know there are equally and more serious problems that not have been dealt with at home in the USA.
Democrites don’t care for the sanctity of life, if they did they would do something about the larger problems.
They want political hay and that’s the bottom line.
Bring em on! Many of those 8000 vietnamese are working in the aircraft plants, doing jobs native born Americans would love to do. I remember a few years ago Boeing had to get I.D., birth certificates, for their workers, had to fire many vietnamese, much to their disdain!
Sorry, Bush’s Amnesty program allows little latitude for allowing those who might choose to come here legally, entry. Have to give the illegals first crack.