The child was riding on what appeared to be a United States military vehicle as it carried her to the newly established "safe havens" in the Iraqi city of Zakho. The joy in her face and those riding with her was heartwarming. It was also in stark contrast to the horrors of the mnuritain refugee camps that we visited last weekend as members of the House leadership delegation. led by Representative MATr McHUGH. The name Operation Provide Comfort is a misnomer. The United States is not there to provide comfort but rather to establish a life support system for the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees who fled the brutal oppression of Saddam Hussein. This is just the latest episode in a long history of nationalistic and ethnic hatred of the Kurdish people. As we viewed it last week. conditions were deteriorating rapidly and. if left unattended. would have accelerated and grown exponentially with massive starvation. disease. and death. Absent the swift actions of President Bush in providing assistance. the situation had the potential for a genocidal catastrophe. Phase 1 of our relief effort is the immediate delivery of emergency supplies in an effort to stave off disease and death. Phase 2 is the relocation of the refugees to these safe haven camps established by the U.S. military. As these efforts get underway. I want to address two areas lacking attention as I witnessed during my visit.
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refugee refugees