Friday April 10, 2009, 6:02 pm

Thanks for this reminder, Alba. (Dang, it seems longer than that, huh?)

Friday April 10, 2009, 11:40 pm
Iraq
Field Reports - In-Depth Reports - Letters & Testimonies

> TAKE ACTION <
Urge President Obama to Support Iraqi Refugees http://www.refugeesinternational.org/where-we-work/middle-east/iraq

Overview
Five years into the US military intervention in Iraq, the country is dealing with one of the largest humanitarian and displacement crises in the world. Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes – either for safer locations within Iraq, or to other countries in the region – and are living in increasingly desperate circumstances. Failure to address the needs of Iraqis will have dramatic impacts on security inside Iraq.

Current Humanitarian Situation
Refugees International has observed extreme vulnerabilities among the approximately 1.5 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria, Jordan and other neighbors of Iraq, as well as the 2.7 million internally displaced persons within Iraq. Most are unable to access their food rations and are often unemployed; they live in squalid conditions, have run out of resources and find it extremely difficult to access essential services.

The Government of Iraq has access to large sums of money, but it lacks both the capacity and the political will to use its resources to address humanitarian needs. Due to this failure, militias of all denominations are filling the vacuum and playing a major role in providing social services in the neighborhoods and towns they control in Iraq. Not only do these Shiite and Sunni militias now have a quasi-monopoly in the large-scale delivery of food, oil, electricity and money, but an increasing number of civilians are joining their ranks– including displaced Iraqis.

Some Iraqis who have tried to return home have found their homes occupied or destroyed, the likelihood of violence still high, a collapse of social services, and neighborhoods divided into homogenous, sectarian areas. While Refugees International hopes that Iraqis will be able to return to their homes in the future, the necessary conditions for returns to take place in safety and dignity do not exist. Returns must not be encouraged until the violence subsides and people can receive adequate assistance and protection.

Actions Needed
The U.S. must craft a new policy to:

Assist Iraqi refugees.
Ensure a safe, voluntary return home when possible.
Pressure Iraq to meet its responsibilities to its own people.
Increase resettlement for those who can't go home.

Read more about our comprehensive plan here: links on --http://www.refugeesinternational.org/where-we-work/middle-east/iraq

Saturday April 11, 2009, 5:12 am

Thank you for sending this important message to President Obama. The U.S. must do more to help displaced Iraqis now, before the situation becomes even more unstable.

Did you check out our new videos on Iraqi refugees? Go to www.refugeesinternational.org/iraq-videos.

* The View From Syria details the increasingly desperate situation for Iraqi refugees in Syria.
* "Khaled's" Story tells the experience of one Iraqi refugee we met in Damascus.

And don't forget to tell five friends about this campaign: www.refugeesinternational.org/tell-five.

Thanks again for taking action!

Sara Fusco
Assistant Director for Online Communications

Saturday April 11, 2009, 6:08 am
Many of us have posted stories on the deplorable situation for so many in Iraq. Women and children living on the streets, men that can not work, and must beg. Iraq is a country with a great deal of money, but If it is not spent for those in need, then what is it for? If it is true that a tenant of Islam is to care for the poor then let that be the first mission of this new independent government. Caring for the least will allow the government to actually see the people it governs.

Saturday April 11, 2009, 6:17 am

(On my way out the door for a "day trip" to a No. Carolina nursing home -- Wishing a STRONG 96-year-old lady a happy Easter -- Not a relative, but I'm always glad to recognize an example.)

But . . .

I have to say this: WHAT ABOUT the innocents? (C'mon, guys. WE OWE SOME PAYBACK -- WE (THEY -- THAT GOVERNMENT WHO STOLE OUR MONEY) PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN THEIR SITUATION.) I cannot be a party to hurting innocents because of their government's purposeful refusal to recognize their situation.

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:20 am
In Sweden we have at least 70.000 Iraqi refugees, last year there were less than 700 in USA.
Shame on you! Who started the war?
-It was not Sweden, that much I know...

Saturday April 11, 2009, 10:00 am
Right you are, Ben! Isn't it strange and revealing how it is always the same nations that demonstrate their 'grandeur d'âme,' their 'greatness of soul,' as we say in French ?

It's just like the situation of European Jews during the years prior to Hilter putting the Final Solution into practice, after which there was no way out.

In the years leading up to this, the writing was on the wall, yet at several international conferences that were held ONLY to calm the public outcry at the plight of Jews, first in Germany, then in each occupied country, NO ONE wanted to take them! I think it was 'little' Netherlands that had the GREATEST moral stature and heart, accepting far more Jewish refugees than the US, or Argentina, or any other country that attended these conferences; far more especially in terms of their size & population. (from the book 'While Six Million Died', by Arthur D. Morse)

In the fall of 1943, the Danish resistance movement ferried almost all of Denmark’s Jewish population to safety in neutral Sweden.

And I know about the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg, who led an extensive rescue effort, ultimately losing his life while remaining in Budapest, Hungary until the last moment, getting visas, protective passports & forged documents churned out, as quickly as possible to save the maximum number of people. Wallenberg began distributing Swedish protective passports in July 1944 and set up more than 30 safe houses. In November 1944, during the death march of Jews from Budapest to labor camps in Austria, Wallenberg secured the release of those with protective passports or forged papers. He and his associates rescued tens of thousands of Jews. In January 1945, Wallenberg disappeared while on his way to meet Soviet officials. He is presumed to have died, or been murdered, in a Soviet prison.(US Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_nm.php?ModuleId=10005185&MediaId=3374 )

England, Great Britain, accepted Jewish refugees, too, but had to be pushed, shaken up, by activists like Nicholas Winton, for example, to get visas made up & the other documents in order in time for specific rescue operations organized by these activists.

Winton saved 669 children by organizing eight rescue missions in 1939, took the children from Prague, soon to be occupied by the Nazis, to Great Britain,where they were placed with families, on farms, or even in boarding schools (very few went to boarding schools) or stayed in hostels. The final train, carrying 250 children, was scheduled to leave on September 1, 1939, but never did. Hitler's troops invaded Poland that same day and the borders were closed. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. None of the children who were to have been on that final train were ever seen again.
Site of 'The Power of Good,' the award-winning documentary film about the rescue operations led by Nicholas Winton & his tiny team of helpers: his mother, a secretary & some concerned people; and how the whole story only emerged following his wife's accidental discovery of the pre-war records he'd kept up in their attic, fifty yrs later 1987! !

While Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, as nations, were bending over backwards to save people, & in the UK, individual activists were able to get the authorities to accept Jewish refugees, United States representatives stood on the floor of the House or the Senate to argue that it was anti-Constitutional to make any effort to help Jewish refugees per se, for example, by instructing US Embassies & Consulates to issue special entry visas, since this would be favoring one specific group as opposed to others. There was a refusal to change criteria for gaining the right to immigrate to the US, specifically to help Jews who were victims of persecution and/or being hunted; future immigrants to the US were required to get documents indicating their good character from local police. Very practical for German Jews and Jews in Nazi-occupied countries.
(from the book 'While Six Million Died', by Arthur D. Morse)

Saturday April 11, 2009, 10:31 am
Shame in humanity!
We are all guilty

Saturday April 11, 2009, 1:03 pm
I thought this story was about Iraq. How come we get another long lecture about the Nazis and the Jews etc. Not that the above post is not interesting and informative - but it should not be here. IMHO

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:11 pm
Marena =
It's probably "here" because the invasion of Iraq is basically the same as the Holocaust (Oh, I forgot, there are plenty of "hide your eyes, close your hearts & ears people" that don't believe that happened either)

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:15 pm

Oh, yeah, Lyn . . .

(Sorry I can't send you another star this week.)

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:28 pm
I DO believe that the Holocaust happened. I KNOW the Holocaust happened. I was allready born then and even though just a child, lived through it. I just don't see the relevance to THIS particular topic. This is about the 6th anniversary of the Iraq invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussain. Why not stick to the topic?

Saturday April 11, 2009, 8:37 pm

And how is this so different?

(Did Care2 start an official "comment police" group? And, since Alba started this . . . shouldn't it be HER objection?)

And just how did THIS comment ADD to the subject matter? "I thought this story was about Iraq. How come we get another long lecture about the Nazis and the Jews etc. Not that the above post is not interesting and informative - but it should not be here. IMHO"

(In my NOT so humble opinion.)

Sunday April 12, 2009, 12:36 am
Sweden Home to 80.000 Iraqi Refugees.
(this was a year ago, but I think it's relevant today)
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-02/2008-02-20-voa21.cfm?CFID=163579404&CFTOKEN=37594615&jsessionid=00307fee494bf65f3f4b7b6d2433664b7831

Sunday April 12, 2009, 12:40 am
Casualties of the Iraq War (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War

Sunday April 12, 2009, 3:48 am
This is my post, Marena, and if you are not capable of understanding the relevance of my comments, you are cordially invited to go away & not come back!

The connection was Ben's comment on Sweden: "In Sweden we have at least 70.000 Iraqi refugees, last year there were less than 700 in USA.
Shame on you! Who started the war?
-It was not Sweden, that much I know...," so it seemed logical and relevant to point out that the same countries, such as Sweden, which have accepted to take in Iraqi refugees were also those (the Scandinavian countries, & particularly Sweden) in the forefront for saving Jews when they needed help during the Third Reich. I think I made that obvious!

This is not the first time that you play 'big boss,' your in comments, telling people what you consider on and off topic. I do not recognize you setting yourself up as 'the' authority nor do I accept your rules.

Sunday April 12, 2009, 3:56 am
European Parliament votes by a stunning majority to offer homes to prisoners released from Guantánamo Bay.

Portugal is Taking the Lead in the Resetllement of Guantanamo's Refugees

Sunday April 12, 2009, 7:42 am
Alba, pay no attention to the "Messerschmitters", it's such a waste of time!

The title of this devastating book about the American war in Iraq says it all: “Fiasco" ( New York Times, 2006)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/books/25kaku.html
"Fiasco" Author: Obama's Iraq Optimism "Sounds a Lot Like Bush":
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-quigg/emfiascoem-author-obamas_b_185470.html

Sunday April 12, 2009, 7:57 am
Marena, many people here will blame Israel and Jews for everyrthing hapenning in the world, repeated in hundreds/thousands of posts.

Acute obsessive disorder.

Sunday April 12, 2009, 8:53 am
If you only want people to agree with you and you can't accept sensible and inoffensive comments from people who see things differently, just don't sent me anymore of your alerts or whatever you call them.

And Ben, the "Messerschmitters" comment is really preposterous.

I will take your advise madam and remove myselve from this ????? site

Monday April 13, 2009, 12:14 am
Thank you for your comments, Ben, and the links to articles, the book and the review.

Also, for teaching me a new word - I didn't know what "Messerschmitt" was!

Monday April 13, 2009, 12:29 am
If you do not think this is relevant, please excuse me.

I'll argue that the existance of Guantanamo and secret CIA prisons is another aspect of the same 'war on terror' policy which was used to justify the invasion of Iraq, the destruction of millions of innocent lives there & elsewhere, and the creation an international police state.

Guantanamo Attorneys Face Possible Prison for Revealing Classified Evidence to Obama, Client's Allegations of Torture: the 2 attorneys, one of whom is Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith, risk 6 months US prison due to the letter they sent to Obama explaining their client's torture allegations. The 2-page memo of evidence he was tortured was delivered all blacked out by the Department of Defense: "I mean, even to President it was blacked out. Paradoxical US President kept from making meaninful judgment..."