(Yet another) injustice for an Iraqi

In this case, a Marine translator

(h/t hilzoy at Obsidian Wings)

Saman Kareem Ahmad, a Kurd, lost his entire family, to attacks by Saddam Hussein on Halabja. After years of looking for work, he returned to Kurdistan in 2001, and eventually wound up using his English skills to get a job as a translator with Marine forces: first in Baghdad, and later in Quantico; where he transferred to when Iraq became dangerous for him.

However, his green-card application for permanent residency was recently denied. The reason?

His offense: Ahmad had once been part of the Kurdish Democratic Party, which U.S. immigration officials deemed an "undesignated terrorist organization" for having sought to overthrow former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

That’s  right: Saman Ahmad had joined an organization fighting against Saddam: so that makes him ineligible for US residency: after having to leave Iraq because of working for forces that overthrew Saddam Hussein!

Hilzoy (as she usually does) says it better:

So I guess that someone in another part of the world doesn't get to engage in armed resistance to a regime that has killed his entire family with poison gas, by joining an organization that the US completely supports, without being labelled a terrorist.

•  That's sick

  Seriously. What is wrong with our government?

  by moviemeister76 on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:01:05 PM PDT

  •  Sheer incompetence

    We really CAN'T keep straight who our friends and enemies are......

    I'm still aghast over the arming and paying of Sunni insurrectionists to fight 'alQuaeda'.... anyone want to start a pool on how long before they start shooting at US troops again?

    by xrepub on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:49:25 PM PDT

    •  I hate to laugh but...

      ...when I heard they were doing this I knew how dumb people in the Bush administration are. It is so ridiculous.

      Sadly, the fact that they took the money suggests, to me anyway, how desperate they are.

      Of course, it is not fair to say that all Sunni are automatically supporting al Qaeda. I am sure most do not. On the other hand, it is silly to take that risk.

      Also, from everything I have read, I think the Sunni are probably desperate for any help they can get considering how hard the Shia extremists have been trying to wipe them out

      by moviemeister76 on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 02:22:50 PM PDT

    •  they will start shooting again

      when the money dries up

      by dancewater on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 03:43:14 PM PDT

•  This Is Just A Step Or Two Away

  from tattooing him on the forehead with the message "I Worked With Americans" and sending him back to Iraq.

  by webranding on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:03:37 PM PDT

•  Meanwhile somewhere in exile,

  Curveball is probably still cashing think-tank checks for his role in starting a war with Iraq.

  There is no justice under this administration.

  by blueintheface on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:10:53 PM PDT

•  Come on, its really because he belongs

  to a "Democratic" party.

  :)  Peace

  by palantir on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:11:11 PM PDT

•  The ironies are so thick and dense

  you can drive a humvee armored personnel carrier over them.

  by nailbender on Sun Mar 23, 2008 at 01:12:19 PM PDT

•  Yikes!

  Huis Clos.

  by AllisonInSeattle on Mon Mar 24, 2008 at 01:26:32 AM PDT