Sen. Kennedy: US Has "Clear Obligation To Stop Ignoring" Iraqi Refugee Crisis

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Proud to be an American? Imagine that.

The Criminality of the State

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We Can't Ignore Iraq's Refugees

By Edward M. Kennedy
Saturday, December 30, 2006; A21

With the nation still at war in Iraq, each of us is deeply grateful to the brave men and women in our armed forces who celebrated the holidays this year with half their hearts at home and half in Iraq. But this year especially it is essential that we also reflect on another human cost of the war -- the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children who have fled their homes and often their country to escape the violence of a nation increasingly at war with itself.

The refugees are witnesses to the cruelty that stains our age, and they cannot be overlooked. America bears heavy responsibility for their plight. We have a clear obligation to stop ignoring it and help chart a sensible course to ease the refugee crisis. Time is not on our side. We must act quickly and effectively.

Today, within Iraq, 1.6 million people have already fled or been expelled from their homes. An additional 1.8 million, fleeing sectarian violence, kidnappings, extortion, death threats and carnage, have sought refuge in neighboring countries. At least 700,000 are in Jordan, 600,000 in Syria, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran and 20,000 in Lebanon. Typically they are not living in refugee camps but have relocated in urban areas, where they must draw on their own meager resources to pay for food and shelter, and must depend on the good graces of the host governments.

The neighboring countries, in turn, are under enormous financial stress from the rapidly increasing needs of the refugees. In Jordan, they now make up more than 10 percent of the population -- the equivalent of 30 million people flooding America's shores. These countries are increasingly unable to meet the refugees' basic needs.

Borders are being closed to more and more of these men, women and children, with the result that many who are most in need or in danger are trapped in the Iraqi caldron of violence. As it continues to boil, the humanitarian crisis will only worsen.

The recent report of the Iraq Study Group rightly concluded that if this refugee situation "is not addressed, Iraq and the region could be further destabilized, and the humanitarian suffering could be severe." Sadly, as with so many other aspects of the Iraq war -- from the growing threat of the insurgency to the need to provide adequate armor for our troops -- the administration has failed to recognize the breadth of the crisis and to adjust our policy to address the plain facts on the ground.

There is an overwhelming need for temporary relief and permanent resettlement. Last year, however, America accepted only 202 Iraqi refugees, and next year we plan to accept approximately the same number. We and other nations of the world need to do far better.

Thousands of these refugees are fleeing because they have been affiliated in some way with the United States. Cooks, drivers and translators have been called traitors for cooperating with the United States. They know all too well that the fate of those who work with U.S. civilians or military forces can be sudden death. Yet, beyond a congressionally mandated program that accepts 50 Iraqi translators from Iraq and Afghanistan each year, the administration has done nothing to resettle brave Iraqis who provided assistance in some way to our military. This lack of conscience is fundamentally unfair. We need to do much more to help Iraqi refugees, especially those who have helped our troops.

Our nation is spending $8 billion a month to wage the war in Iraq. Yet to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the refugees who have fled the war, the State Department plans to spend only $20 million in the current fiscal year.

America needs to lead, but we cannot adequately respond to this overwhelming crisis alone. Because of the magnitude of the problem, we also need action by Iraq's neighbors and the rest of the world. An essential first step could be to hold an international conference on the issue -- ideally sponsored by the countries in the region and the United Nations -- to begin to deal with the growing number and needs of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons. The United States should participate in the conference and provide substantial support for the refugees. Doing so would encourage other nations to address the crisis, help the refugees and displaced persons, and assist the countries shouldering the greatest burden.

Working with Iraq's neighbors and the United Nations, we can encourage rapid action to relieve suffering and save lives. And a productive conference could lead in turn to broader discussions and greater progress on the future of Iraq.

Clearly, in the long term we need to work together to find a way to end the violence and stop the hemorrhaging of lives. In the short term, America needs to respond far more effectively to the needs of the millions of refugees and displaced persons who are suffering so much from the war. Failure to act quickly and cooperatively with other nations will only result in more carnage, chaos and instability in the region.

The writer is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts and incoming chairman of the Senate immigration, border security and refugee subcommittee.

Warmonger Rationale

by Ralph R. Reiland

"Essentially states are class-stratified political units that maintain a monopoly of deadly force – a monopoly institutionalized as permanent police and military forces," writes anthropologist Lawrence H. Keeley in his book, War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage.

The state's "monopoly of deadly force" means that we hang a man who kills in order to steal a wallet but throw a parade for a leader who successfully kills 500,000 in order to steal the resources of another land.

Whether it's for land, gold, diamonds or oil, there's nothing new about using state violence to rob others of their wealth.

"Both nonstate social groups and states have historically engaged in the violent annexation of territories to acquire natural resources," writes Pace University economics professor Joseph Salerno, a senior fellow at the libertarian Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Salerno contends that "imperialist wars by states in every epoch of history are not accidental." Instead, "They are the outcome of the powerful tendency to war-making that is inherent in the very nature of the state."

Before the age of SUVs and the need for oil, the imperialism was about more simple things. "In Minnesota, the Chippewa and Dakota Sioux tribes battled one another for 150 years over access to hunting territories and wild rice fields," writes Salerno, "while tribes in the Pacific Northwest frequently fought for frontage on the ocean and rivers giving access to the salmon runs."

In short, slaughter an entire tribe for salmon and it's fine – something that calls for a victory dance – but steal a pot from a tepee in your own tribe and you're likely to be strapped to a tree as bear food.

Salerno sees those who run the state, whether they're dictators or elected politicians, as a class that lives off those who produce and pay taxes: "These are historically the tax-consumers and, not coincidentally, the war makers."

For a minority ruling group that's coercively siphoning off resources and lowering the take-home pay and living standards of the majority of the population, war, argues Salerno, has the advantage of directing the attention of the majority to an outside enemy, a foreign state, a foreign ideology.

"Convinced that their lives and property are being secured against a foreign threat, the exploited taxpayers develop a 'false consciousness' of political and economic solidarity with their domestic rulers," writes Salerno. Persistent war making by a nation's governing elite against allegedly threatening aggressors becomes "a perfect way to disguise the naked clash of interests between the taxpaying and tax-consuming classes."

War, rather than being a mistake or an aberration, is as unavoidable as death and taxes because it serves the interests of the governing class, according to Salerno's analysis: "A permanent state of war or preparedness for war is optimal from the point of view of the ruling elite, especially one that controls a large and powerful state."

For the U.S., the "war on terror" provides policy-makers with the pretext and opportunity for "an open-ended imperialist war the likes of which were undreamt of by famous war makers of yore from the Roman patricians to German National Socialists," asserts Salerno.

With no shortage of "evildoers" in the world, no shortage of memories about 9/11, no shortage of places in the world where a domino might topple and harm our national interests or the interests of our allies, and no shortage of official pronouncements about God being on our side, it became not very difficult to convince the majority of the American public to buy the rationale for "preventive war" – to accept the idea that U.S. invasions and attacks, even in the face of no evidence of imminent attack or military provocation, are justifiable as "preemptive" action, justifiable as "self-defense."

Unfortunately, it's likely that the high level of opposition to the war in Iraq currently being expressed by the American public only exists because we are losing. If the post-invasion aspects of the war hadn't been so bungled, the majority of the population would still be saying to stay the course, still be willing to abandon habeas corpus, still be willing to wink at torture and look the other way as the government picks up people and holds them indefinitely.

"It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it," a U.S. officer was quoted as saying in Vietnam. This time, we were well on our way to destroying liberty in order to save it.

December 13, 2006

Ralph R. Reiland [send him mail] is an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.

Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com

Ralph R. Reiland Archives

US general: 'Iraq is a failed state created by the United States'

Warning: The genaral is still feeding us the bs "victory", "war on terror" guff.

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Victory will require sacrifice
By JOHN BATISTE

Posted: Nov. 25, 2006

Iraq is a failed state created by the United States. Our senior leadership did this to Iraq, ourselves and our allies.


America is losing a battalion's worth of dead and wounded Americans - as many as 800 men and women - every month and spending up to $2 billion a week on a failed strategy.

We are hemorrhaging our national treasure in blood and dollars without anything of relevance to show for it.

The Bush administration continues to get the strategy wrong and to understate the magnitude of the task in Iraq.

If we permit this to continue, we will guarantee that we fail. Victory will require the leadership, sacrifice and commitment that Americans have not demonstrated since World War II.

Our national security is at stake, and it is past time for change. Failure in Iraq would doom the Middle East to a wider conflict that would pit Sunni Muslims against Shiites, Kurds against Arabs, Turks and Iranians, and nation against nation, ultimately threatening Israel.

Failure would injure the U.S. in ways that we cannot fathom, and, in the end, it would cost far more than it would to save Iraq.

It is not too late, however. Victory is non-negotiable, and we must finish what we started in Iraq with new leadership and a new strategy. We no longer can fight this war on the cheap.

There is only one rational solution: Employ a bold new strategy to change the dynamics on the ground in Iraq as quickly as possible.

Allow me to offer an alternative strategy and way ahead for debate in the days and weeks ahead.

• Fix Iraq's huge unemployment problem.

Since America cannot increase troop strength in Iraq fast enough, the only alternative is to deny the insurgents an enormous manpower pool by drafting large numbers of combat-age Iraqi men into national service and paying them attractive wages.

The vast majority of insurgents are not hard-core ideologues but unemployed Iraqis desperate to support their families. Devise a draft system that tribal sheiks support and that screens large numbers of men to serve their country either in the military or in jobs designed to put the country back together.

• Give tribal sheiks incentives to be part of the solution.

This will encourage them to cooperate with the Iraqi government at a price that pales in comparison to the amount of money we are wasting today.

Recognize that the sheiks wield enormous influence and that an Iraqi identifies first with his or her tribe, then ethnic origin as Arab or Kurd, then religion as a Sunni or a Shiite.

• Secure the borders with Iran and Syria.

Stop the flow of support to the insurgency from both countries. Consider recruiting a special border security force of 100,000 or more by hiring ex-military from NATO contributing nations, or give the Saudis, Jordanians and Egyptians, who already have an enormous stake in stabilizing Iraq, incentives to provide forces. The rule of law can never take root in Iraq until its borders are secure.

• Get serious about standing up the Iraqi security forces.

This is our No. 1 priority in Iraq; we must embrace it as our main effort. Pour into the Iraqi army, police and border security forces the right quantity of resources so they can fight the insurgency on a level playing field. Select our best officers to embed with Iraqi security forces and equip the Iraqis to succeed.

• Get a sufficient number of coalition troops into Iraq to establish security as a precursor to the rule of law.

Tens of thousands of additional coalition troops may be required. There can be no sanctuary for terrorists and militias in Iraq, and the practice of shifting forces from one province to another does not work and defies counterinsurgency doctrine. For nearly four years, the myth of Sisyphus has played out over and over in Iraq.

• Federalize Iraq and help the Iraqis construct their own form of representative government.

The current European parliamentary model that the Coalition Provisional Authority imposed on Iraq is not working.

Devise a system with three regions and with preconditions designed to influence behavior.

Iraq needs a representative government that takes into account the tribal, ethnic and religious complexities that have defined the land for centuries.

• Deal with the militias.

Provide incentives to encourage militias to disband and become part of the solution, or crush them. The likes of Muqtada al-Sadr cannot be allowed to dictate policy or undermine the rule of law.

• Engage with both friendly and unfriendly governments to get Iraq under control.

Strengthen and build coalitions of the willing. Dialogue is fundamental, and we must engage with all countries, including Iran and Syria. Work to open diplomatic missions in both countries. We must get closer to our enemies.

• Finally, mobilize the United States.

Put our government on a wartime footing. Consider alternative ways to finance the war with rationing programs and fuel surcharges. Our leaders need to step up and explain the "what, why, how long and what it will cost" to each and every one of us.

Properly resource our great military in force structure and dollars. Our high-performing Army and Marine Corps are far too small for our national strategy. They are at a breaking point, and they no longer are in a position to respond to other worldwide contingencies. Indeed, a draft may be required to win a protracted war on terror.

Fix the interagency process, which is seriously dysfunctional. We must insist upon unity of effort with all government departments fully engaged, united and committed to win. And fully resource the Veterans Affairs Department to care for our returning wounded veterans properly.

Set the United States on a path to develop alternative sources of fuel within the next five years. There is no reason why America should remain dependent on foreign oil. This is all about leadership.

Victory against the jihadists is the most important issue of our time. Victory in Iraq is now a crucial component in this war. The war in Iraq must be above partisan politics if America is to win the war on terror, prevent a meltdown of the Middle East and prevent a catastrophic weapons-of-mass-destruction attack on our homeland.

We owe this to our incredible military, their families, our nation and ourselves.

Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste commanded the Army's First Infantry Division both in Iraq and in Kosovo. He's now president of Klein Steel Services in Rochester, N.Y.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=534942