We can only hope and pray that this massive humanitarian relief effort will not be too late to prevent widespread death and disease. The Iraqi people. having already suffered greatly at the hands of the Iraqi military. certainly deserve to find safe haven at the border. It is unfortunate that the United States. as General Scoworoft recently said. had not anticipated the extent of the refugee crisis. It is perhaps impossible to have predicted the scale of the uprising against Saddam Hussein. or the indiscriminate brutality to which all Iraqis subsequently would be subjected. Still. our response has been painfully slow in the context of the enormous need. The United States And its coalition partners have a compelling responsibility to help alleviate the human suffering that has followed our success in forcing Iraqi troops from Kuwait. I. therefore. am pleased that the President has recognized this responsibility by proposing an expanded United States role in assisting Iraqi refugees. This will involve significant numbers of American troops in the setting up of secure camps and facilitating food delivery to those in need. While the administration has funds at its disposal to use in such an emergency. I am confident that the Congress will fully support requests for additional assistance to make American participation as effective as possible. It is fortunate that the administration has reversed its opposition to such a direct and significant American role in the humanitarian relief effort. The horrendous plight of over 1 million refugees along the Iraqi border affords no one. and certainly not the United States. the luxury of remaining uninvolved. I hope that the Presidents statement reflects an American commitment to doing all it can to end the suffering. I believe there is another step the United States should take.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees