Supposedly tens of thousands of Iraqis leave their country each month to avoid the general violence. Some of them have worked with the U.S. and fear for their lives. Our refugee planning - like almost all other Bush administration "planning" - failed to take this into account, and until recently only considered resettling 500 Iraqis this year. The State Department says they could handle many more, but blames the issue on the U.N.

Teddy Kennedy to the rescue! The incoming chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship is going to hold hearings to try to figure out what to do.

On the one hand, we do have an obligation to those Iraqis who have worked for us and who do not pose a threat should they be brought here. However - given once again the Bush administration's general incompetence - some of those that we would admit might end up posing a threat to the rest of us. The best solution would probably be to encourage some other country to take as many as possible.