Iraqi Refugees Mentioned in NH Debate

In Saturday night's debate in New Hampshire, Sen. Clinton acknowledged the crucially important issue that’s largely remained unaddressed in discussions over the war in Iraq – what to do about the thousands of Iraqis who are in danger because they've helped U.S. efforts in their country:

We have to figure out what we're going to do with the 100,000-plus American
civilians who are there working at the embassy, working for non-for-profits or
American businesses. We have to figure out what we're going to do about all the
Iraqis who sided with us, you know, like the translators who helped the Marines
in Fallujah, whom I met, who said they wouldn't have survived without them. Are
we going to leave them?

You know, this is a complicated enterprise, so it has to be done right.

As the candidates consider their proposals for dealing with Iraq, they should not forget the millions of vulnerable Iraqi refugees - including Iraqis who've put their lives on the line to support the United States.

(Note that Sen. Clinton’s 100,000 estimate of the number of American civilians working in Iraq is probably high. According to an LA Times examination of reports obtained from the government under the Freedom of Information Act, there are a few thousand American civilians in Iraq working directly for the U.S. government, and an additional 21,000-plus American civilians working under U.S. contracts in Iraq. The article states that 118,000 Iraqis are working under U.S. contracts in Iraq. Those numbers were calculated in February 2007, but it’s still clear today that the Iraqis working for American interests in Iraq vastly outnumber actual American civilians working in Iraq.)