Prison Radio
Mumia Abu-Jamal

Since the latest Iraq War began, over 2 and 1/2 million people have left the county, many settling in nearby Jordan.

The life of a refugee anywhere is a kind of hell, but for Iraqis, they face a special kind of hell.  They are seen by some of their fellow Arabs as those who welcomed in the Americans (because most of the refugees came from middle class, or well to do families), and as such they are perceived as people who brought chaos into an already volatile region.

In many countries, they are not allowed employment, and must simply find a way to survive, based on their depleted savings, or, as the saying goes, they exist ‘thanks to the kindness of strangers.’

They have lost their world, as the life of a refugee is tantamount to no life at all.

As the problems of Iraq boil over, one glance at the situation of the people in Palestine sends shivers down millions of spines.

That population has been bereft of a real home for over 50 years – and little relief appears to be in sight.

Since 1948, millions of Palestinians have been living in countries not their own, holding on to rusty old keys to doors that no longer exist.

As Americans play Roman in Iraq, and try to restructure that nation to its Imperial will, there are many refugees who doubtless wonder if they will go on the heartbreaking sojourn of their Palestinian cousins – away from homes for generations.

No matter what U.S. politicians say, no matter what politicians at the UN say, the Iraqis are virtually on their own, and may be so for decades.

The US., which claims the Invasion and occupation was ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’, has kept the so-called ‘golden door’ to U.S. shores almost completely shut.

Of the 2.5 million Iraqis now living in exile, some 700 have been granted residency in the United States.

Seven hundred.  In 2007, some 70 people have been allowed in.    

For Iraqis who believed the promises of the Invaders, who sped to work for them as translators, or supporters, their reward has been banishment from the land of their ancestors, to countries where they live on sufferance, on the stale gruel of suspicion, and hatred.

The real deal is that the U.S., fueled by petro-lust, isn’t finished in the region.

It’s hunger for oil will keep it in the region no matter how many Americans or Iraqis die.

Why else would the U.S. build the biggest bases and embassy on earth there?

They plan to stay.

Iraqis, who lived in some of the oldest cities on earth, simply have to find new digs.