Rehabilitating the Iraqi Diaspora Should Be a US Priority

Too long the US has been asking the question, "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" when it comes to Iraqi refugees.

This morning's article in the New York Times about the vanishing Iraqi middle class, now mostly in diaspora and impoverished in neighboring countries, reveals the extent of our blunder and the depth of our transgression against the Iraqi people. Without a civically active middle class to help the country rebuild, a troop surge will prove futile for providing any lasting stability.

It is clear from the article that as the war trudges on, Iraqi refugees grow more and more desperate. Even Jordan has closed its doors to the tide of immigration. While diaspora communities usually maintain ties and send money home to their sending countries, this is not possible for the majority of Iraqis fleeing the war. Lacking any plan for the rebuilding of Iraq, the US should have recognized its responsibility to rehabilitate and shelter Iraqi refugees long ago. Doing so would not only have been the humane thing to do, but would have also been a way to invest in a segment of the population that could provide leadership and resources to the country.

The Times reports, "The United States promised to increase the number of Iraqi refugees it takes, and the United Nations has referred 9,100 Iraqis to it this year. But so far fewer than 200 have arrived, according to the State Department. Several hundred more are expected to arrive in the coming weeks." I would like to be optimistic that we are going to follow through on our promise, and that it won't be too little, too late.