Abu Aardvark on Iraqi Refugees

Mark Lynch, also known as Abu Aardvark, publishes a blog in which he writes extensively on a variety of issues concerning the Middle East and American policy in the region. Last week, he wrote about an interview he conducted with a visiting group of Iraqis at the United States Institute of Peace. One interviewee is Omar Abd al-Satter, a Sunni member of the Iraqi Parliament from the Islamist Iraqi Party. Aardvark asked Satter about the crisis concerning refugees and displaced persons."Satter", Aardvark writes, "strongly argued that the normalization of Iraq could never take place until the displaced returned to their original homes. He dismissed official statistics on the return of refugees and IDPs to this point as propaganda and lies. He dismissed arguments that sectarian separation was necessary for security - once the militias and al-Qaeda were driven out, he claimed, there would be no problems between Sunni and Shia." Through his blog, Aardvark does a commendable job bringing attention to the millions of displaced Iraqis through the Middle East.