This from a US blog­ger in Bagh­dad:

We are get­ting word that the U.S. Gov­ern­ment is plan­ning to imple­ment a pro­gram that grants refugee status to selec­ted Iraqis that have assisted the media and there­for may be in danger once the Coali­tion forces depart this country.

As I under­stand it, these Iraqis, and their fam­il­ies, will be relo­cated to the United States and given eco­nomic assist­ance for up to eight months, after that they’re on their own to find jobs, hous­ing, etc…

Fur­ther­more, they can­not return to Iraq for a set period of time, but will be ear­marked for cit­izen­ship. On the sur­face it sounds like an out­stand­ing offer.

I had a con­ver­sa­tion with one of our young Iraqi employ­ees yes­ter­day, and he asked me if I thought that he should take the offer. He makes a very good liv­ing in Iraq, out­side of his employ­ment with us, buy­ing and selling homes.

He told me that he has $100K in the bank and believes that it would be enough to set him and his fam­ily up in the United States. His dream is to own a neigh­bor­hood mar­ket some­where in America…

In the end, his decision came down to what would be bet­ter for his 6 year-old son. My friend felt that the oppor­tun­it­ies for his son would be far greater in the United States than grow­ing up in what he envi­sions Iraq will be like in the near future.

I felt that it was a fair and unselfish lit­mus test, and prob­ably one that my ancest­ors made a cen­tury and half ago when they emig­rated from Scot­land. I hope that it works out for my friend and his family.