Who picks up the pieces seven years after the Iraq invasion?

The Iraq war receives far too little media coverage these days. The “good war” in Afghanistan is leading the bulletins. But reading about this document from an American army medic back from Iraq, the atrocities by the Americans remain largely unknown.

ABC yesterday featured a story and news report about the massive refugee crisis in Jordan, countless men, women and children unable to return to Iraq and trapped in limbo. Many will want to come to Australia:

A leading global migration expert says Australia is likely to see an increase in the number of Iraqi asylum seekers arriving by boat because of a refugee crisis in the Middle East.

Dr Philip Marfleet, from the University of East London, says conditions for thousands of Iraqi refugees across the Middle East are growing worse by the day and he has called on Australia to increase its intake of Iraqi refugees to help ease the situation.


“More and more people from Iraq and other crisis zones are likely to seek sanctuary in Australia … I would describe it as a chronic crisis,” he said.

“It’s extremely likely, I think, that over the coming years we will see more and more Iraqis emerging into the smuggling networks.”

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled Iraq to Jordan, Syria and other surrounding countries since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Many are teachers, doctors and other professionals with their families.

These issues are discussed in the forthcoming book by my friend Mike Otterman, Erasing Iraq.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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