Iraqi+Refugees

Current refugee programs fail to meet the needs to Iraqi refugees living in the United States – only comprehensive resettlement reform can solve Chaldean Federation of America, 8/17/09 “A Shabby Welcome”

The US Department of State has lacked the tools necessary to manage the refugee crisis, making it impossible to provide refugees with the aid they need Gao.gov, 4/21/09

The Advantage is Soft Power

The Iraqi refugee issue is critical to US soft power – without it the US looks only self-interested The Washington Times 8 (Tulin Daloglu, Freelance writer, “A moral Imperative,” April 22nd, 2008, URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/apr/22/a-moral-imperative/)

Reforming the resettlement program is key to sustained humanitarian leadership Deffenbaugh and Feltman, 2009. [Ralson, president of the Lutheran immigration and refugee service, Heather chief executive officer of Lutheran social services of new England, ìUS refugee resettlement program needs reformî Providence Journal April 30]

Middle East soft power is vital to winning the war on terror and maintaining leadership in the region – acting on Iraq is vital to overcoming post-invasion resentment Nye, 2006 [Joseph S., Harvard professor, “In Mideast, the goal is smart power,” August 19, Boston Globe]

Absent a change in US policy, a nuclear terror attack is inevitable by 2014. A nuclear 9/11 would devastate global trade and cast billions into poverty Allison, 2008 [Graham, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, “Nuclear attack a worst-case reality?” Washington Post, April 23]

Causes extinction – even the attack fails, we’d retaliate with nukes Sid-Ahmed 04 (Mohamed, Managing Editor for Al-Ahali, Extinction! http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2004/705/op5.htm, aakash)

Scenario 2 is Chinese Soft Power

The Chinese are taking on Iraqi refugees which increases their soft power NPR 7 (Louisa Lim, Shanghai Correspondant, “Iraqis Find Job Opportunities, New Lives in China,” August 8th URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12545485)

China will take advantage of low US soft power to remove US primacy – soft power is zero sum Sharif Shuja ’08, Monash University Global Terrorism Research Unit Honorary Research Associate 3/22/08 (“Why America Cannot Ignore Soft Power,” Contemporary Review, pg. 21)

China using its soft power to isolate Taiwan, risking armed confrontation with the US CRS 08, objective organization providing research to government officials, Mar 2008 (“China’s Foreign Policy and ‘Soft Power’ In South America, Asia, and Africa,” Congressional Research Service, Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations, http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2008_rpt/crs-china.pdf)

US-China war over Taiwan escalates to global nuclear war, causing extinction Straits Times, 6/25/00 (“Regional Fallout: No one gains in war over Taiwan,” lexis nexis)

Containing China deters China and forces political liberalization --- ensures better integration into the international order Kagan 97 (Robert, Alexander Hamilton Fellow in History at American University, Weekly Standard, “WHAT CHINA KNOWS THAT WE DON’T; The Case for a New Strategy of Containment”, 1-20, aakash)

Scenario 3 is Africa

The Iraq issue is what has ruined America’s image – particularly Egypt, a critical player in China-Africa relations Alterman 9 (Jon B., “Chinese Soft Power and Its Implications for the United States,” March, URL: http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/090305_mcgiffert_chinesesoftpower_web.pdf)

This trades off with US influence Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, 5/18/06, “China’s Soft Power Initiative,” aakash

First Impact:

Chinese aid is redirected to oppressive regimes and elites – causes failed states Brookes and Shin 6 (Peter, senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation; Ji Hye, research assistant in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, “China’s Influence in Africa: Implications for the Unites States,” Feb 22, www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/bg1916.cfm, aakash)

Second Impact:

Chinese influence in Africa causes genocide Kirchick ‘7 (James, Weekly Standard, 3/2, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/opinion/main2530702.shtml, aakash)

Scenario 5 is Iran-Syria

Iraqi refugees are critical to opening up Syria US relations Dine 9 (Tom, Former Executive Director of AIPAC, Advisor to IPF & Search for Common Ground, “Get US Syria Relations out of a Deep Freeze,” February 17thURL: http://www.israelpolicyforum.org/blog/get-us-syria-relations-out-deep-freeze)

Obama needs open up ties with Syria in order to pressure Iran into opening up diplomatically – this is critical to opening up more space in Obama’s foreign policy agenda which is key to climate change and the global economy Time Magazine 09 (Peter Beinart, associate professor of Journalist and Political Science at the city University of New York, and a senior fellow at the New American Foundation, “Obama Shrinks the War on Terrorism,” December 07, URL: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1945182-2,00.html)

US Leadership on Climate key to solve warming Citizens for Global Solutions 8 (American advocacy group for global engagement, “S.Res.30 - A Critical First Step to Solving Climate Change,” July 23rd, URL: http://www.globalsolutions.org/node/552)

No one in legitimate scientific circles disagrees about warming’s impacts—positive feedbacks actually do cause extinction Deibel 7, Professor of IR @ National War College, 7 (Terry L. “Foreign Affairs Strategy: Logic for American Statecraft”, Conclusion: American Foreign Affairs Strategy Today, aakash)

Plan: The Executive Branch of the federal government of the United States should utilize allocated Congressional funding to establish a social service program for comprehensive refugee resettlement for refugees living in poverty in the United States.

Solvency

Accepting more refugees is the only way to protect America’s long-term interests – current federal goals are insufficient. Byman, 2007 (Daniel, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies @ Georgetown, senior fellow @ Saban Center for Middle East Policy @ Brookings institution, ìThe next phase of the Iraq warî Slate ñ Nov 15)

U.S. influence with other powers is vital to solving all global problems, including terrorism and proliferation Stanley 7 (Elizabeth Stanley, Ass Prof @ Georgetown, 7 “International Perceptions of US Nuclear Policy” Sandia Report, http://www.prod.sandia.gov/cgi-bin/techlib/access-control.pl/2007/070903.pdf, aakash)

Comprehensive social service reform is necessary to solve International Rescue Commisions, 6/16/09 (http://www.theirc.org/news/flawed-us-refugee-admissions-program-failing-iraqi-refugees-recession-only-makes-matters-worse-)