No More Stains

But as Packer puts its, we are talking about "Iraq's smallest minority," a relative handful of people. Taking care of them threatens neither national security nor the mission in Iraq.

Our unwillingness to take care of them, on the other hand, undercuts one of the primary reasons we give for staying in Iraq. And if we will not help those who are helping us today, who can believe us for the long haul—either in Iraq or in the rest of the world?

I have, as I said, vivid memories of a time when our national honor was stained. We do not need any more.

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For further reading and information:

Lisa Barron, "America Is Turning Its Back on Iraqis Who Helped Us in War," Chicago Sun-Times, 13 March 2007.

George Packer, “Betrayed: The Iraqis Who Trusted America the Most,” New Yorker, 26 March 2007.

Roberto Rivera, “Perfidious Columbia Watch,” part two, and part three, The Point, 13 and 20 March 2007, and 26 February 2007.

BreakPoint Commentary No. 061204, “Later Rather than Sooner: Withdrawing from Iraq.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 061221, “Avoiding the Final Betrayal: Protecting Iraqi Christians.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 061107, “Silencing Ancient Echoes: Iraq’s Christians.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 060329, “One Down, Millions to Go: Abdul Rahman and Religious Freedom.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 050819, “Shafting Nineveh: The Fate of Iraqi Christians.”

BreakPoint Commentary No. 050519, “Letting Our Friends Down: The Hmong Christians.”