I Fought Saddam, I Was a Terrorist

Get a whiff of this logic:

Ahmad, a Kurd, once served in the KDP's military force, which is part of the new Iraqi army. A U.S. ally, the KDP is now part of the elected government of the Kurdish region and holds seats in the Iraqi parliament. After consulting public Web sites, however, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services determined that KDP forces "conducted full-scale armed attacks and helped incite rebellions against Hussein's government, most notably during the Iran-Iraq war, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom."

Ahmad's association with a group that had attempted to overthrow a government -- even as allies in U.S.-led wars against Hussein -- rendered him "inadmissible," the agency concluded in a three-page letter dated Feb. 26.

Saman Ahmad, who helped keep US marines alive in Iraq, had his green card request denied, on the grounds that prior to 2003 he was fighting Saddam!

The only thing I can add to this, from my own experience in Ahmad's home town in 2006, is that the civilian agencies of the US government have been worse than useless in Iraq. Not only have they failed to involve themselves in reconstruction projects like Halabja, but they have actively discouraged such work from private groups (in the case of the State Department), and have obstructed visas and green cards (in the case of the State and Homeland Security Departments).

In other words, we might actually all be better off without them. That's your government at work.