Iraqi Refugees

Packer reports some good news:

...something new and potentially important is happening in Baghdad: the American Embassy has begun to hear cases inside the Green Zone, so that Iraqis don’t have to give up everything before they can be considered for resettlement. It’s called in-country processing, a rare though not unheard-of thing in American history. In March, the cases of thirty Iraqis working at the embassy, along with fifty-two family members, were heard, and the first of them will arrive here this week. The numbers should increase fairly significantly in the coming months. Under the terms of a bill that is one of Senator Ted Kennedy’s many proud achievements, in-country processing in Iraq is now U.S. policy.