Knowing When to Fold 'Em

Amnesty International called some months ago "for the US, UK and other states contributing troops to the Multi-National Force (MNF) in Iraq to follow the lead of the Danish government and provide for the resettlement of Iraqis whose lives are now at risk because they are seen to have assisted the foreign forces, as interpreters, drivers and in other roles." It's a topic that I've mentioned here before and that's been treated in The New Yorker and elsewhere to seemingly little avail.

Daniel Davies brings people up to date with the state of play in the UK. I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the main impediment to doing something sensible and humane about this is simply that organizing it correctly would require the organizing governments to concede that their mission in Iraq has basically failed. In the alternate reality where the surge is working (or we need to wait and see) and all the country needs is strategic patience or a renewed emphasis on bipartisanship, there's no room for something like a refugee crisis and, therefore, no possibility of special concern for those Iraqis we owe the most and who we've done the most to endanger.