Writing in The New York Review of Books, the former cardinal archbishop of Washington reports on the refugees the Iraq war has created, including the Christian refugees, who face constant threats of Islamist violence (the archbishop uses the word “sectarian”) as well as homelesssness. 2.5 million Iraqis have fled the country, he writes, while another 2 million are “internally displaced.”
What, he asks, should the U.S. and other countries do?
First, they must not assume that an end to military involvement marks the beginning of a withdrawal of humanitarian support. As a moral matter, we should not claim victory in Iraq while there are millions of Iraqis who have lost their homes, have little hope of reclaiming them, and are now forced to live in extremely difficult conditions. . . .A first step would be to meet the UNHCR’s annual funding request [$700 million], at a minimum, and accept for resettlement the number of refugees recommended by that agency during the coming years.
September 28th, 2010 | 12:56 pm
Interesting title to this post. I would have chosen something more like “Cardinal Addresses Tragic Consequences of US Invasion of Iraq.” I’m not sure that “Victory” is the adjective of choice to describe the possibility that the US might “meet the UNHCR’s annual funding request [$700 million], at a minimum, and accept for resettlement the number of refugees recommended by that agency during the coming years[,]” which I imagine won’t totally resolve the problems of the 2.5 million refugees and 2 million internally displaced persons, or the “Iraqi girls and boys [who] have become subject to human trafficking and child prostitution,” that Cardinal McCarrick also mentions in the article.
September 28th, 2010 | 2:18 pm
The title is a reference the cardinal’s statement that “As a moral matter, we should not claim victory in Iraq while there are millions of Iraqis who have lost their homes, have little hope of reclaiming them, and are now forced to live in extremely difficult conditions.” It was only meant to point to a different way of thinking of the war.
September 28th, 2010 | 6:29 pm
Is it just me, or does it seem as though suffering Christians from around the world get sent to the back of the line when it comes to refugee asylum here in the States?
September 29th, 2010 | 10:44 am
No, Matt, it is not just you.
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