U.S. SHOULD ACCEPT IRAQI REFUGEES

One of the worst results of Bush's illegal and unjustified invasion of Iraq has been the millions of displaced persons and refugees fleeing the violence that has become a daily occurrence in Baghdad and the other major cities. More than one million Iraqis have fled to Syria. Jordan has taken in some 750,000. Even Iran is the home to more than 50,000 Iraqis.

Yet the United States which under Bush started this humanitarian crisis has taken in less than 500 Iraqi refugees. Apparently Bush and Homeland Security Department Michael Chertoff believe it is too dangerous to accept Iraqis. Bush thinks some of them could be "terrorists." No matter that many refugees worked for the U.S. military, or that many are professionals such as medical doctors and lawyers, or that thousands are single women with children, widowed through random violence and/or U.S. military "collateral damage." Bush and Chertoff won't budge.

So the world sees the unspeakable suffering of destitute families and children who have no homes or schools or hope that things are going to get better. All the while, Bush himself is upbeat, confident that history will be kind to him as a "liberator."