Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Refugee Weapon

This article about Zimbabwe highlights the effects of refugees on the internal political situation of a country:

Millions who fled Zimbabwe amid its economic collapse blame President Robert Mugabe, but their inability to vote in elections this month may boost his chances to stay in power.


Imagine what the presence of 3.5 million angry people now in exile could do if inside Zimbabwe?

Which is why I oppose efforts to spend money on the Iraqi Sunni Arabs who fled Iraq the last couple years. They are mostly Baathist supporters and their absence from Iraq helps the Iraqi government to win the war against the Sunni terrorists and insurgents.

And their presence in Syria in large numbers is a burden on Syria which supports our enemies inside Iraq. This is also good.

Further, I've opposed accepting Iraqis into the United States as refugees in large numbers precisely to keep people friendly to us inside Iraq who will fight for a free and democratic Iraq. It is counter-productive to let Iraqis into our country in large numbers when that will simply undermine the effort to stabilize Iraq as a friendly country. A lot of people from peaceful countries want to come here, remember?

Refugees are a weapon in war. We're doing just fine on this front.