Clean Up One Mess Before Making Another

At a certain point, I just have to blame “41” and “The Beautiful Mind” for the way Dubya ended up (an observation prompted by this story).

Wasn’t this utterly loathsome adult taught as a child the simple rule in the title of this post? Or did he just randomly scatter his toys and wait for the precursor of Condoleezza Rice to come along and pick up after him, excusing his behavior at every opportunity (and I’m not saying that to denote anyone of a particular race)?

Before I finish that thought, I want to point out that, as noted in the New York Times story, the White House occupant gave a speech in Prague, Czechoslovakia yesterday lambasting Vladimir Putin of Russia in particular (and as also noted in the Times story)…

After a lengthy discourse on freedom as a “moral imperative,” in which he chronicled human rights abuses around the globe, from Myanmar to North Korea to Sudan, Mr. Bush turned his attention to Russia and China, linking them as countries whose relationships with the United States, he said, were strong, but also complex.

Why make things worse by trying to link Russia with China? Are they part of the “Axis of Evil 2007,” Dubya?

And as far as one of the preznit’s “messes” go (so many from which to choose), I cannot imagine how he believes he can scold other nations about human rights while saying not a word about the refugee crisis created by his war of choice in Iraq.

This WaPo article from February 2005 explains how the surge, if you will, of Iraqi refugees into Syria had put a strain on housing costs and jobs for educated professionals, which were at a premium anyway, with Syrian officials estimating that 700,000 refugees had crossed over into that country...

U.S. criticism has shifted to the Iraqis already here, especially the wealthy early arrivals whom the diplomatic community labeled "Mercedes refugees." U.N. officials and Western diplomats say the group, less than 10 percent of the overall Iraqi population here, consists mainly of senior Baath Party officials and other Hussein supporters. With passports and political connections, they come and go with relative ease.

But Western diplomats say the Syrian government has an interest in making sure Iraqis are not aiding the insurgency. Peter Ford, the British ambassador to Syria, said the issue is "if anything, a more pressing problem than the threat posed by jihadis," the foot soldiers of the insurgency. Their money and organizational skills, he said, create more violence in Iraq, which drives more Iraqis to Syria.

Hmmm, “Mercedes refugees,” huh? I wonder if that is as demeaning and misinformative a term as “limousine liberals”?

Well, I don’t think our clueless diplomats need to focus on this group of people coming and going in and out of Iraq anymore unless they possess weapons. No one in their right mind would enter that country unless they were required to do so.

The issue now with Iraqi refugees in Syria (as noted here by The Raw Story) is that many of them have been forced to turn to prostitution since they have no other option for survival.

So what exactly are we doing about Iraqi refugees in this country? This article notes that we will be admitting more shortly, though we have been shamed in this regard by Scandinavian countries, Sweden in particular.

And DHS Secretary Mike (“City Of Louisiana”) Chertoff somehow still possessed the arrogance, in announcing the increased number of refugees we will accept, to state that "America's tradition of welcoming international refugees and responding to humanitarian emergencies is unrivaled" (and I know there are legitimate homeland security/border issues involved here, but when it comes to Iraq, as Colin Powell famously told President 29 Percent Mandate…ugh…”you break it, you own it”).

I can hardly wait to see the smackdown Putin administers to Dubya over this one…hope someone puts up a YouTube video (Vlad is hardly one of my favorite people, but at least he’s more honest about what he is than GWB).