Laura Bush Falsely Claims That ‚Äö√Ñ√≤Many’ Iraqi Refugees Have Been Welcomed Into The U.S.
[D]uring an interview with First Lady Laura Bush, CNN highlighted World Refugee Day and the effect that the war in Iraq has had on the number of refugees around the world. CNN reported Iraqis “who were helping the Americans or even helping their own country” are now targeted and must seek “refuge in other nations, as well as the United States.”…. Bush responded saying, “Obviously we’re especially concerned about the Iraqi refugees.” She added, “We welcome many of those refugees, both from Iraq and Afghanistan into the United States.”
Ah, it’s always entertaining when The First Stepford Wife © jumps into policy issues, isn’t it? With a vacant smile and a thousand-yard stare, Laura Bush can manage to find the bright side of even the most dire and pressing problems- even if she has to make $#!& up out of whole cloth. The reality is that the American government DOESN’T welcome Iraqi refugees. This Administration has only grudgingly allowed a few of the Iraqis that really are in mortal danger emigrate to the US, and we’re not even scratching the surface of the debt we owe these people- many of whom live under a death sentence at home in Iraq. As for Mrs. Bush statement that “We welcome many of those refugees”…well, I suppose if your definition of “many” is “more than two”, then I suppose she’s right. The problem, though, is that The First Stepford Wife © is being both gratuitously and openly dishonest about our government’s mean-spirited approach to patriating Iraqis who have served the American occupation.
The First Lady is greatly exaggerating the administration’s policy. As the Baltimore Sun notes today, “as of May, only 69 Iraqis had entered the United States” this fiscal year. In total, the United States has “resettled fewer than 500 Iraqi refugees” since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq has become “the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis.” Syria alone is hosting “1.4 million Iraqi ‚Äö√Ñ√≤guests’” and Iraqi refugees have become increasingly desperate, some even resorting to prostitution. In total, there are more than two million Iraqi refugees.
And yet Laura Bush will tell you with a straight face that we’re doing everything we can to welcome as many people as possible. Then again, if the Bush Administration dawdles long enough, enough of the Iraqi translators will be killed off so that we’ll be welcoming those few left alive. Welcome to America! Thank you for your service! Now go drive a taxi or open a restaurant or something….
