U.N.: Nearly 100,000 flee Iraq monthly

[Barrett808]

U.N.: Nearly 100,000 flee Iraq monthly
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA - Nearly 100,000 Iraqis are fleeing each month to Syria and Jordan, forcing the United Nations to set aside its goal of helping refugees return home after the U.S.-led invasion, officials said Friday.

Instead, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has drawn up plans to deal with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are desperate to escape the violence, chief spokesman Ron Redmond said.

"Much of our work in the three years since the fall of the previous regime was based on the assumption that the domestic situation would stabilize and hundreds of thousands of previously displaced Iraqis would be able to go home," Redmond said. "Now, however, we're seeing more and more displacement linked to the continuing violence."

It has been impossible to obtain accurate totals on the numbers of refugees because few Iraqis are registering with UNHCR, and most are being cared for by host families or charitable organizations, he said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_refugees_iraq

[libodem]

1. but, but. but, what about all the GOOD news?

Damn liberal media anyway....all the new schools, books, and pencils, where are the nice stories about the Iraq's running up to our troops and thanking our forces as liberators? This war was sold on creating Iraq in America's image, where are the neat, tidy neighborhoods, with electricity and clean water for all? What about all the new media outlets? The newspapers, radio and TV stations? Oh, yeah, I forgot all the beautiful media outlets were fronts for some American ad agency to fake up distortions about how well the new Democracy is working.:sarcasm:

[tanyev]

2. If we can just outlast them, eventually we'll be in charge

of an empty country. Hey, maybe that IS the secret plan.

[libodem]

3. This truly is another tragedy of this war

people fleeing from their homes and their country. What a burden on their lives. What a cost to their psyches.

[Roland99]

4. So, the outflow is what DICK meant by Iraq going remarkably well.