Amman, Jordan
November 13, 2007
As media attention around the world has shifted to a U.S. military attack against Iran, there are glaring incongruities with respect to the Iraq war that we are failing to address.
Our perception of this war is tragically formed by the continuous reports we read of the number of US troops who have been killed. DEATH TOLL: 2007 DEADLIEST FOR US TROOPS IN IRAQ was the headline of an article which appeared in the newspaper here about a week ago. There was no mention whatsoever in the article of a single Iraqi having been killed. Official data shows that at least 887 Iraqis were killed in October, a number slightly higher than September which saw a total of 840 people killed (Jordan Times 11/2-3/07), and these are “official” numbers known to be deceivingly low.
“The Iraq war represents the end of the media as a major actor in war” says Madeleine Bunting in a recent article in “The Guardian.” (11.5.07)
“…in this great age of communications and saturation media this is perhaps the most important war to become nigh on impossible to report on… Without the images on our screens of those caught up in the awful maelstrom of this imploded country….without the human stories that bring people and their suffering so vividly to life….there is little chance of public opinion reengaging with the biggest political calamity of our time.”
Last week a top military officer and spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Brigadier General Qassim Ata, was quoted as saying “Around 46,000 Iraqis who had fled abroad to escape brutal violence returned last month on the back of improving security in the war-ravaged country.” (The Jordan Times Nov.8.07) The article mentions that the General’s claim came just two days after the Iraqi Red Crescent said in a report “that local residents continued to flee their homes in large numbers in September.” That Iraqis are reportedly returning because of “improved security” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Perhaps the following account will help illustrate this.
One day this past August police entered a city bus here in Amman and one by one checked the IDs of the passengers. A young Iraqi man was on the bus. I will call him Ali. Although Ali was carrying a document from UNHCR identifying him as an asylum seeker, he was detained overnight and his passport was taken from him. It is being held by the police until he either leaves the country or is resettled. He was not caught working, which is illegal for Iraqis without residency; he was just taking a bus. Where is he supposed to go? Back to Iraq, the place from which he fled? Other countries are closed to him. Even Syria is no longer an option for Iraqis seeking refuge.
Ali’s situation is not uncommon. I have heard numerous accounts from Iraqis whose passports are similarly being held by Jordanian authorities until they leave the country.
It appears that the situation of Iraqi refugees is perceived by the International community as getting better. While it is true that some Iraqis are being resettled, the numbers are pitifully low in relation to the alarmingly high number of those displaced within Iraq and the vast numbers of refugees in Iraq’s neighboring countries. All other indicators point to the fact that their plight is worsening.
Iraqis are returning to Iraq not because of improved security, but out of desperation. Their money has run out, their visas have not been renewed or, as in the case of someone like Ali, they find themselves facing deportation. One of the sons of an Iraqi family here in Amman recently returned to Baghdad in order to continue his university studies. He couldn’t face the idleness and inability to study or work here in Amman. He said he preferred to risk his life rather than to waste it. His sister is thinking of leaving her family here to join him in Baghdad for the same reasons.
US Asst. Sect.of Consular Affairs, Maura Harty was here in Amman last week. In a meeting with the press she was eager to “dispel misconceptions regarding entry into the United States and encourage Jordanians to visit America….for any ‘legitimate’ reason such as education, business, tourism or medical.” If they do not receive a visa it is “because they failed to demonstrate that they have reasons to return to their home country.” If this is the policy for Jordanians, who are from an ally country of the U.S., where does this leave the over 4 million Iraqis who are desperately seeking a safe haven (over 2 million internally displaced and over 2 million in neighboring countries)?
How is it that after suffering years of U.S. backed economic sanctions, Iraqi academics, scientists, students and artists now face far greater and more rigid restrictions than ever on the part of DHS in obtaining a student or travel visa to the U.S.? Like Jordanians, they must prove that they have reason to return to their home country. But their situation is dramatically different from that of Jordanians, as their country is imploding.
How is it possible that we spend 2 million dollars a day on the Iraq war and still there are only one or two machines in Baghdad cranking out the new “G” passports? There is a four month backup there in the processing of passports.
How is it possible that Iraqis are asked by the Department of Homeland Security in their interviews for resettlement why they paid a ransom for the release of their loved one? As if they had a choice! Even a child understands how bizarre such a question is.
When will we realize we are asking the wrong questions? The question we should be asking is how can we help Iraqis? Their country is ablaze and people are desperately trying to escape the violence and killing. Their situation calls for immediate and concrete relief. Why, I asked the Dept. of State and US Embassy representatives in a meeting last week, can’t we in the U.S. create a type of “temporary residency” for Iraqis? A five-year residency lets say. At least Iraqis with family or friends in the states who are ready, willing and able to sponsor and receive them, could do so. This single gesture would relieve in some measure the pain and suffering of so many.
This past summer Rice and Gates came to the region with a 50 billion dollar “arms package” for specific countries in the Middle East; 30 billion was earmarked for Israel. This was our gesture to make the region more secure and stable. A well known columnist in Jordan, Hasan Abu Nimah, wrote at that time “This may look like an excellent business deal for the arms industry, but it is, contrarily, a certain prescription for destructive wars to come.” (The Jordan Times, 8.1.07). Is it any wonder that the rest of the world looks on us with disdain and indignation! Rather than “winning the hearts and minds” of Iraqis and others in the Middle East, we are perceived as arrogant and reckless “cowboys” charging ahead to our next misadventure. Tragically it is the people here in the Middle East who are paying dearly with life and limb for our failed policies.
Cathy Breen
