Syria Allows U.S. To Screen Iraqi Refugees

U.S. Officials To Interview Refugees For Admittance To United States

(AP)  Syria has agreed to allow U.S. interviewers into the country to screen Iraqi refugees for admission to the United States, clearing a major obstacle to the Bush administration's resettlement program, The Associated Press has learned.

The move follows a visit to Damascus Oct. 30 by senior U.S. envoys who won permission for Department of Homeland Security staff to travel to Syria to vet Iraqi refugees awaiting clearance to enter the United States, officials familiar with the matter said Thursday.

Syria, which is home to between 1.2 million and 1.4 million Iraqi refugees, had for months refused to issue visas to the interviewers amid deepening tensions between Washington and Damascus over alleged Syrian support for extremists, interference in Lebanon and suspect nuclear activity that appears to have prompted an Israeli airstrike.

The agreement is to be announced by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch in congressional testimony Thursday afternoon, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Welch had not yet made the announcement.

They said the trip to Damascus by James Foley, a career diplomat, and Lori Scialabba, a top immigration official with Homeland Security, had been instrumental to securing the agreement. It was not immediately clear if the interviewers had been granted the visas yet or when they would travel.

Refugee advocates briefed on the Syrian decision welcomed the step, but said it was critical for the United States to keep up high-level engagement with Syria and other countries in the region that are sheltering more than 2 million Iraqis who have fled violence in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"This is obviously very good news," said Jacob Kurtzer, a congressional advocate for Refugees International. "We're very happy, but it really does draw attention to the need for a continuous high-level diplomatic presence in Syria and the rest of the region."

The United States does not currently have an ambassador in Syria, which the State Department has long designated a "state sponsor of terrorism," and visits there by senior U.S. officials are rare.

Aside from the Iraqi refugees in Syria, there are 750,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon, 10,000 in Turkey and 200,000 in various Persian Gulf countries, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Of the total, the U.N. has so far referred about 12,000 of those refugees to the United States for resettlement but bureaucratic logjams and logistical hurdles have hamstrung U.S. efforts to admit them. The administration admitted only 1,608 Iraqi refugees this past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

The United States plans to admit 12,000 refugees in the current fiscal year, but just 450 were allowed in during October, far less than the monthly average needed to reach the target.

The administration has conceded a moral obligation to assist Iraqi refugees but the slow pace of admissions has sparked criticism from refugee advocates and lawmakers.

The blame has been placed on bureaucratic slowdowns, including bickering between the State Department, which is in charge of refugee resettlement, and Homeland Security, which must screen all refugees for admission. Those from Iraq are subjected to additional security checks because of fears of terrorism.

In September, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the appointment of Foley and Scialabba to clear the logjam that has hampered admissions.

[terrorislam5]

Posted by Prinzowhales at 08:53 AM : Nov 10, 2007

israel is not the problem, fascist nazi terrorislam is the problem

the war that fascist nazi terrorislamic muslims started rages on 1400 years later,,,

The Truth about Islamic Crusades and Imperialism

Historical facts say that Islam has been imperialistic%u2014and would still like to be, if only for religious reasons. Many Muslim clerics, scholars, and activists, for example, would like to impose Islamic law around the world. Historical facts say that Islam, including Muhammad, launched their own Crusades against Christianity long before the European Crusades.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/11/the_truth_about_islamic_crusad.html
http://www.americanthinker.com/2004/08/the_muslim_crusades.html

the truth about fascist nazi terrorislam...
http://www.terrorismawareness.org/what-really-happened/

Islamic origins
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/compass/hico_058.pdf

Origin of Islam
http://www.allaboutreligion.org/origin-of-islam.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Origin+of Islam%3A Secular History

[terrorislam5]

VOTE FOR JEFFERSON VOTE AGAINST FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM VOTE GOP

dnc are like john adams and want to give the jihadist their lunch money hoping they will leave us alone

gop are like thomas jefferson and want to spend their lunch money on weapons and go kick the jihadists in their arses

What Thomas Jefferson learned from the Muslim book of jihad

Thomas Jefferson knew about fascist nazi islam, he killed plenty of them

In 1786 Jefferson and John Adams went to negotiate with Tripoli''s envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman or (Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). They asked him by what right he extorted money and took slaves. Jefferson reported to Secretary of State John Jay, and to the Congress:

The ambassador answered us that [the right] was founded on the Laws of the Prophet (Mohammed), that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to heaven.
http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan07/jeff_quran.htm
America and the Barbary Pirates: An International Battle Against an Unconventional Foe
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjprece.html
muslim justifies slavery and piracy%u2026
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6bdec278-6a71-4436-bc4d-29d1c54b0ad7

[prinzowhales]

terrorislam5--Now follow the career of Weishaupt and look at his associates...you''ll end up on the trail of the secret societies and eventually end up at the door of the Tomb...which houses Skull & Bones of which Bush and Kerry were members...Guess who trained Weishaupt?...Are you familiar with the Illuminati courier who was struck by lightning and had his revolutionary documents fall into the hands of the Bavarian Police?

From Weishaupt you can go directly to Karl Marx and the secret societies...on to a certain Confederate General, Albert Pike, of KKK and Scottish Rite freemasonry infamy...Can you believe it?--His statue stands in Washington today, unmolested by the likes of Jesse "the Shakedown Artist" Jackson or ''Fat Al'' Sharpton...as the writer of the article below asks, why is it that Washington has a statue of a racist Luciferian while Cuba has a statue of Christ in Havana Harbour?

http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/albertpikestatue_mustfall.html

[prinzowhales]

terrorislam--"Picture Fascist Nazi Germany with nukes," you say?--I don''t have to picture it, it exists...its called Zionist Likudnik Israel, complete with a racist ideology of the Ubermensch, a desire for conquest, a mythos of victimization, a population of Untermensch to kick around--the Palestinians, for whom every night is Krystalnacht. They even have the "Samson Option"...a plan for a Gotterdamerung if their ''holy'' crusade for Lebensraum fails and they face defeat....Real fruitcakes...of course Bush and Pastor Hagee are gungho for Apocalypse...its a shame they couldn''t have just bought into the Heaven''s Gate cult and caught the comet a few years ago...

[terrorislam5]

The Death of a University

how social progressives killed a great university

The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstdtt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law and medicine, all of which were contained in the Hoheschule (''''high school''''). The university was modeled after the University of Vienna, and its chief goal was the propagation of the Christian faith. The university closed its doors in May of 1800, by order of the Prince-elector Maximilian IV (later Maximilian I, King of Bavaria).
The 1700s gave rise to the Enlightenment, a movement that was opposed to the church-run universities of which Ingolstadt was a prime example. The Jesuits gradually left the university as it sought to change with the times, until the university finally had become so secular that the greatest influence in Ingolstadt was Adam Weishaupt, founder of the secret society of the Illuminati. On November 25, 1799, the elector Maximilian IV announced that the university''''s depleted finances had become too great a weight for him to bear: the university would be moved to Landshut as a result. The university finished that year''''s school term, and left Ingolstadt in May of 1800, bringing to a quiet end the school that had, at its peak, been one of the most influential and powerful institutes of higher learning in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ingolstadt

[terrorislam5]

BE AFRAID,,, BE VERY AFRAID,,,

PICTURE FASCIST NAZI GERMANY WITH NUKES,,,

WAKE UP! The Crisis in Pakistan Is Much More Dangerous Than You Think
Musharraf''s Emergency Crackdown Is Anathema to Everyone Who Cherishes Human Rights and Democracy. But His Grip on Power Is Slipping Just as Islamic Extremists Are Escalating Their Bloody Insurgency. If They Succeed in Overthrowing Musharraf and Seizing Power, al-Qaida Will Gain Access to Pakistan''s Nuclear Weapons.
http://www.skeeterbitesreport.com/2007/11/wake-up-crisis-in-pakistan-is-much-more.html

Iran could have nukes by 2009
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380749027&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[trueprophet]

I support Ron Paul and his non-interventionist foreign policy. All of the other candidates wants to continue our illegal police action in Iraq indefinitely, and they do not rule out a preemptive (nuclear) first strike against Iran. Ron Paul voted against our (undeclared) war in Iraq, which was sold to us with lies. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies--the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. The war in Iraq has cost more than 3,500 American lives and almost a trillion dollars. We need a leader in the White House who will ensure this never happens again. Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have 750 foreign bases and troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft. We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing our borders against illegal aliens who are invading our country from the South. No war should ever be fought without a Declaration of War voted upon by the Congress, as required by The Constitution. Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations. Too often, we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we too become despised.

[trueprophet]

What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[trueprophet]

HOPE FOR AMERICA: PRESIDENT RON PAUL

-- No more meddling in other country''s political affairs
-- No more aggressive military actions overseas
-- No more pseudo-wars like the "War on Drugs"
-- No more IRS and unconstitutional income taxes
-- No more Federal Reserve (the group of private banks which owns our government)
-- No more U.N. (one world government) participation
-- No more NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO or GATT
-- No more North American Union
-- No more federal gun control laws
-- No more illegal aliens pouring-in over our country''s borders
-- No more illegal aliens allowed to roam freely in our streets
-- No more federal Laws which are not authorized by The Constitution
-- No more federal erosion of State sovereignty
-- No more all-powerful federal government

They don''t call him "Dr. No" for no reason. The Doctor is in! Join us in this 21st Century political revolution at ronpaul2008.com

"Liberty, when it takes root, is a plant of rapid growth."
- George Washington

"Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must...undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
- Mahatma Gandhi

[prinzowhales]

Isn''t it grand? We are doing the screening of the Iraqis rather than the ''sovereign'' Iraq regime?

Here is a link to a great news site information clearing house with an article about what could very well be the fate of the US Fifth Fleet if Israel or Washington decide to attack Iran while the fleet is in the Gulf...Dr. Salla''s article...

If the Fifth were to absorb such an attack, it would be turned into a "Remember the Maine!" type of thing and be trumpeted by the ''Great Wurlitzer''--America''s propaganda machine...Remember, the mass media has lost viewers...but viewership increases dramatically when the cruise missiles start flying and Americans move from trying to figure out why they are short of breath when they try to pick both nostrils of their noses at the same time to watching things go boom and cheering the home team...they have been able to keep the lid on here in the new post 9-11 Amerika through the outrages of Iraq, Afghanistan, the border, the economy, the corruption...there is no real reason for them to imagine that they can''t continue their murderous course to cover an economic debacle haven''t been paying attention...

Yet another silly American conception can finally be laid to rest--''Crime can''t stand the light of day''... It is thriving in the light!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/

[terrorislam5]

LOOK WHO IS TARGETING CIVILIANS!!!

Qaeda warns of attacks ''worse than 9/11''
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070530102648.wuwa6k96&show_article=1

Hizbullah Deputy Sec-Gen Sheikh Naim Qassem: We Have Jurisprudent Permission to Carry Out ''Martyrdom'' Operations, Fire Missiles on Israeli Civilians From Ayatollah Khomeini
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD154907

Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

"It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
American Al Qaeda Member Threatens Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/29/terror/main2865282.shtml

[trueprophet]

I support Ron Paul and his non-interventionist foreign policy. All of the other candidates wants to continue our illegal police action in Iraq indefinitely, and they do not rule out a preemptive (nuclear) first strike against Iran. Ron Paul voted against our (undeclared) war in Iraq, which was sold to us with lies. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies--the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. The war in Iraq has cost more than 3,500 American lives and almost a trillion dollars. We need a leader in the White House who will ensure this never happens again. Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have 750 foreign bases and troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft. We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing our borders against illegal aliens who are invading our country from the South. No war should ever be fought without a Declaration of War voted upon by the Congress, as required by The Constitution. Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations. Too often, we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we too become despised.

[trueprophet]

What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherence to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[grazinggoat]

CBS News: ''Iraqi refugees in Damascus meet on Friday, Oct 26, 2007 with the Iraqi speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who flew in for talks with Syrian officials. According to Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal, there are some 2.2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria. Statistic figures have put the number at 1.5 million
Aside from the Iraqi refugees in Syria, there are 750,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon, 10,000 in Turkey and 200,000 in various Persian Gulf countries, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.''

-This means we caused 3 Million Iraqi refugees while we occupied their country? And we dare not accept but 12,000? where is our moral obligation?

[logicanada]

sunsetbilly , I hope you read my apology last night. I had misread the contributor name on a post.

[logicanada]

oh well, there goes security.